What You Mean To Me
by erinsgirl
Summary: A kidnaps Spencer. Can she survive or will she become another of A's fatal victims? And can they bring down A once and for all? Post 5x13 story.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello all. I got this story in my head and couldn't get it out. Good news, I've got about 90% of the first draft written. Bad news is the first draft sucks. I'm also not promising a timeline for updates. I'm aiming to get a new chapter posted every 1-2 days but my workload is due to explode in January so no guarantees.**

**Also thanks to The Velvet Dusk for giving me some advice on this. Check out her stories. They're great.**

**Disclaimer: Clearly if I had any control or ownership of the show I would be writing on the show.**

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><p>Spencer glanced up from her laptop and eyed her buzzing phone. The now-constant debate waging in her mind as it had been for weeks. Answer or ignore.<p>

The noise was going to drive her insane. With a scowl she reached out and grabbed it. _Toby._ Spencer jabbed her thumb down on the ignore button before she could change her mind. She couldn't talk to him. Not now. Not like this.

Her phone chimed with a text a few minutes later. Despite all her attempts to cut ties to him he proved to be the one person to rival the Hastings' level of persistence. At least when it came to her. And while Spencer refused to let herself talk to him or see him she did permit herself his texts.

_**Nobody else has given up on you. Don't give up on yourself. I love you –T**_

Tears blurred her vision. _God that beautiful idiot. _She had broken-up with him for a reason after all. And ok maybe it wasn't a break-up so much as them getting into another fight and Spencer yelling that she was through ruining his life and slamming the door shut in his face when he came to talk. And ceasing all further interaction with him. But that was sort of how all their break-ups went so why not this one.

The point was she did it to protect him and these kind of messages were trampling all over that. It was enough to almost make her track him down and yell some more. Lecture him on why he couldn't keep sending her supportive texts that he loved her. Or leave her endearing and soul-strengthening voicemails that she played on repeat for hours on end. Argue about why he couldn't stop by and try to coerce her parents into letting him see her. Tell him to stop trying to communicate through her friends – whom she only talked with marginally more than she did him. She'd willingly throw something, like his phone, at his head to reinforce the idea if needs be.

Except she's fairly certain she wouldn't get even halfway before she'd break-down, plead forgiveness for all of her sins and beg him to hold her and never let go.

And she can't do that. It wasn't fair to him. She was already the reason he missed his own graduation and ended up with a broken leg. Now he was just starting his career as a cop. One that she knew he was taking seriously. He wanted to actually do some good. To get answers about his mom, about A, everything. He wanted to help people despite having every reason to leave them in hell. He wanted to make a difference.

And he couldn't do any of that with a girlfriend facing a murder rap and was a regular subject of police interest. Or who had a habit of engaging in borderline illegal activity attempting to clear her name. Or a stalker who knew exactly where to strike. So she did what was best for him, even though it killed her.

With her rigid Hastings self-discipline she forced her attention back to her laptop. She needed to figure this out if she had any hope of saving herself from jail.

In the six weeks since her arrest, Mona's murder and their reconnaissance at Radley, Spencer had been pouring through everything she could get her hands on in an attempt to make the pieces fit. Mona had been certain that Alison was A. That she had orchestrated Bethany Young's death. That the blonde was responsible for just about every trauma Rosewood had suffered in the last few years.

But how could they prove it?

The letter Hanna had found hadn't been enough to get her off the murder charge. Instead it had done the opposite and brought more heat down on them. Probably due to Ali's potential relationship with Holbrook and Rosewood's usual incompetence. And now they were worse off than before.

There was no love lost between Spencer and Mona. The conniving brunette had spent the better part of the last few years blackmailing, threatening and torturing Spencer and everyone she cared about. She'd blown their lives apart on more than one occasion. She had run over Hanna, their best friend, with a car. She had trapped Emily in a gas filled barn and pushed Aria's family to its limits so many times. She'd been responsible for the majority of the worst moments in Spencer's life and had forced her to breaking point. Literally.

But despite all that Spencer hadn't wished her dead. And especially not in the brutal way she had been. Mona might have been a monster, but she was one Alison, Spencer and the others had created. And even monsters hadn't deserved that.

Now Mona was just another part of the Rosewood conspiracy. Her murder was a macabre piece of this gruesome puzzle. But solving Mona's mystery might just solve her own.

Alison's the prime suspect. The most likely culprit. But they have no proof and while Spencer believes her former friend is a likely candidate for both A and the numerous unsolved murders in this town there's something not sitting right about it.

Alison is perfectly capable of getting her hands dirty. Spencer knows that first-hand but she's also been brilliant at manipulating others to do what she wants. Their current theory makes perfect sense, it fits everything. And maybe that's the problem. It's too neat. It makes too much sense. As much as Spencer wants to, the cynic and sceptic in her can't believe it.

So she's going through everything she has. Every clue, every theory and shred of evidence she knows trying to figure it out. Spencer was recalling everything she could from Mona's lairs and their stint at Radley. Caleb had kept the access to Mona's computer set-up. Part of it anyway. But it's heavily encrypted and finding anything they can use has been slow progress. Hanna convinced Mrs Vanderwaal to let her into Mona's room and had snuck out everything she thought might help. Aria was sending her everything Ezra gave her. And Emily was passing along anything she knew from her mother's police contacts.

But they were no closer than they were a month and a half ago.

Spencer let out a huff of frustration and opened up the latest email Caleb had sent her. Information on Radley in general but nothing on Bethany Young. Spencer glanced at the information not sure if it would yield anything. A lot of what they had come across so far had only been vaguely informative but not particularly helpful. This seemed to be the case too.

Spencer straightened up in alert as something caught her eye. That couldn't be right. She tore through the paper sheets around her trying to tie the links together. When she had what she was looking for her colour drained from her face in horror.

_No._

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><p>Hours later her mother gets home and Spencer doesn't hesitate to confront her. Veronica's barely gotten in the kitchen door before her younger daughter slams the sheaf of papers, evidence of her discovery, on the island table.<p>

"Seven years ago a man named Walter Kim killed himself in Radley," is Spencer's clipped greeting. "A case was taken against Radley for criminal negligence and gross misconduct including its Board of Directors. Radley won."

Veronica frowned at the sheets of white paper before facing her youngest child. She knew where this was going and she was not in the mood to dredge up the past. "Hello to you too. Why are we discussing something that happened over half a decade ago?"

"Because you were the one who defended them," Spencer accused. "And Dad was the one who handled the litigation side. Made sure Radley covered its bases and the family signed a confidentiality clause."

"Leave it alone Spencer," Veronica ordered. Of all the things Spencer needed to stop pulling at this was top of the list. "It's in the past."

"It is still relevant," Spencer was not letting this go. Not when it could explain so much. "Jessica DiLaurentis was on the Board back then too. She was the one who talked Dad into it wasn't she. And he convinced you."

"None of this will do any of us any good now." Veronica turned towards the stairs but Spencer wouldn't be deterred. "Mrs. DiLaurentis was having an affair with Bethany Young's father! Bethany knew how Toby's mom really died and she's the reason Dad talked him into that settlement."

"Spencer leave it alone." Veronica warned. Her natural ice-cold combative tendencies kicking in now.

"The Kim case is tied to Bethany Young, to all of this too. When you told me you were leaving Dad you said that it wasn't because of the lies. You had an agreement not to get Melissa and I involved. Well we are involved Mom. Look around. Dad blackmailed Mrs DiLaurentis and she was buried in our backyard. I'm facing prison because someone's setting me up. And this could explain why, this could –"

"-We're involved because you got hooked on those damn pills and got so high that none of us know what happened and gave that family ammunition against us." If Veronica had slapped Spencer it wouldn't have hurt as hard. Or shocked either of them as much.

Spencer blinked back the tears. She'd known what her parents had thought. They'd always made their disappointment crystal clear. But actually hearing the words… Even though her mother obviously regretted saying it out loud it was clear that she at least partly thought it true.

And that cut more than anything.

Spencer drew herself up to her full height and met her mother's eyes.

"I'm sorry about the Adderall. I really am but I didn't hurt that girl despite what everyone in this family thinks. And you can divorce Dad and change your name but it won't change your past or solve your problems and it definitely won't get you out of this family's fucked-up issues. Believe me Mom I've been looking for an escape for a really long time. But I'll do you favour and remove myself from your life so you don't have to be _**involved**__." _And with that Spencer stormed out the door.

She ignored her mother's calls to come back, that it would greatly diminish her legal standing. She didn't care. She couldn't stay in that house one more minute. Not while her mother was there. Not when Spencer was about to break down any second.

She made it to the far end of the yard.

She saw a shadow in the corner of her eye but before she could do anything else a paralysing pain shot through every nerve of her body. Spencer involuntarily collapsed on the ground in agony. Her vision blurred and she couldn't make a sound beyond an incomprehensible groan. The last thing she saw before blacking out was a dark hooded figure leaning over her.

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><p><strong>Merry Christmas.<strong>

**Please let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Here's the first real chapter.**

**Also I don't think Caleb was ever told the truth about The Jenna Thing. If I'm wrong, pretend that he doesn't for this chapter.**

**Enjoy**

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><p>"Has anyone talked to Spencer recently?" Aria asked.<p>

Emily shook her head as Hanna sighed. "I saw her on Tuesday when I dropped off her homework but it was for like five minutes and all she asked about was what we found. 'Cause you know, she's Spencer. Her mom barely let me in the door and practically kicked me out again two seconds later."

"My mom told me that the police think Spencer had help getting rid of the evidence," Emily explained tentatively. "They think it was her parents who covered for her but they're looking at us too. In case we can give them anything. They think Spencer's using us to hide the connection."

"Except Spencer's parents did cover but for Melissa because she's the one who killed Bethany," Hanna exclaimed. "Which someone should tell the cops already so that they can drop the charges for murder against Spencer!"

"And charge her for conspiracy and attempted murder instead," Caleb commented with his usual snark though its typical edge was missing. "And she can deal with her sister and parents facing murder charges. And the cops will still be sitting outside her house."

Hanna huffed at her boyfriend as Aria frowned at the table top, picking at her breakfast and Emily bit her lip in worry. It was something they'd argued over several times in the last few weeks. Revealing Melissa's part in that night could save Spencer except their genius friend didn't believe that and wasn't willing to divulge it to the cops.

Hanna, Emily and Aria had eventually agreed that Melissa was a shady, selfish bitch. And it was Spencer's decision. It was her family.

That didn't mean Hanna liked it.

"Toby says they're pushing the case forward as soon as possible," Emily admitted. "Great," Hanna muttered. "That means we're running out of time." Things just kept getting worse and worser. "How is Toby?"

"Not good." Emily admitted. Hanna rolled her eyes. Toby stressed about Spencer's caffeine levels. There was no way he wasn't freaking out at the fact his girlfriend – ex-girlfriend - could end up incaricogenic. "Spencer won't talk to him and when I tell him I've barely talked to her either he just gets more worried."

A loud, crazy knocking at the Marin's front door interrupted their conversation. Hanna pushed herself off the counter to answer it.

She was greeted with an extremely worked up Toby Cavanaugh. "Hey Toby, you look like crap."

Toby ignored her as he hurried through the door. "Is she here? Have you seen her?"

"Who?" Hanna was so confused.

"Spencer!" Toby half-shouted as if the answer was obvious. Which in fairness it was. Who else would Toby be looking for?

"Isn't she at home," Caleb's concern was clear on his face as he and the two girls made their way into the foyer.

"No. She got into a fight with her mom last night and ran out the door. Mrs Hastings called me a few hours ago when she didn't come home. None of you know where she is?"

Fear settled in the pit of Hanna's stomach. She didn't know where Spencer was. And neither did Aria, Emily or Caleb. They would have told her. A had killed Mona. Had A hurt Spencer too?

"If Holbrook or Tanner find out she's missing they're going to use it against her! She'll look even guiltier! They could put her in jail before the trial!" Toby looked ready to pull his hair out.

"We'll find her Toby." Emily put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, Spencer's tough and we'll help you look for her." Aria handed Emily her coat as Hanna grabbed her own. They'd find Spencer. They had too.

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><p>"There's nothing in here!" Caleb paused his own research at his girlfriend's angry declaration.<p>

They'd talked Mrs Hastings into letting them into Spencer's room and backyard. Her phone, laptop and car keys had all been sitting on her desk. Hanna had inventoried the closet and announced all of one outfit missing. A cursory check through Spencer's texts and emails had yielded nothing.

They'd taken everything A, Alison and Radley-related they could find and Caleb had switched out her hard drive and back-up for clean ones in case someone else went snooping.

They'd already checked out the farm Alison was using as a meeting ground for her new disciples but had struck out there too. Now Toby, Aria and Emily were searching everywhere they could think of while he and Hanna tried to find some clue from Spencer's investigation.

It didn't take a genius to see that Hanna's anger was really only to mask her fear. Caleb got up and hugged her. "Hey, we'll find her. One thing I've learnt since I moved to Rosewood is not to bet against you girls. You don't go down easy, Spencer included."

"Mona didn't go down easy either," Hanna pointed out, tears rolling down her cheeks now. "But A still killed her and kept the body for who knows what. How do we know A hasn't already done the same thing?" She collapsed into his chest. "We've already lost Mona and Alison in a way. I can't lose Spencer too."

Caleb had never liked or trusted Mona but to Hanna she had been a best friend at one time. The murder of the pint-size terror had deeply hurt Hanna and Caleb knew losing one of the girls would destroy her. It wasn't just Hanna Caleb was worried about either. Spencer was his friend too. She'd tried to help him and his relationship with her best friend since his return. He wanted her to be ok too.

"Come on until we know for sure we need to think Spencer's alright and we need to see if there's anything here that can help her." He felt Hanna nod to herself and pull away in agreement as she went back to going through the papers scattered across her kitchen.

Caleb went back to his computer. Spencer meticulously saved all of her work but had encrypted it. It didn't stop him getting access but it was time-consuming.

"What the hell," he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had opened a video file and was treated to what appeared to be a home movie featuring Hanna and the other girls, Alison included. They were in a bedroom swapping clothes, talking and laughing. They all seemed slightly different, younger and he realised with horror they clearly didn't know they were being filmed. He hit pause as he tried to contain his disgust.

Hanna turned and looked at the screen. "The N.A.T. videos? I thought those had been destroyed. I guess Spencer found another one of the hundred copies that seem to be around town." Caleb couldn't believe Hanna was more surprised by Spencer having the video than the video itself. "Hanna you know about this?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "You know that key that Jenna wanted you to find? Well this is the can of creep that it opens." Seeing Caleb's look she continued. "Garrett and Ian and Jason used be in a film club. This is what they filmed. Jenna's on there too being a perverted sicko. Alison was blackmailing her with it and so was Spencer. Sort-of."

"All these tapes are from those perverts," Caleb gestured towards the list in shock. He knew someone was always watching but seeing the actual physical proof… "Tapes," Hanna frowned and her jaw dropped. She quickly started going to the list. "I didn't know there was that many." She opened another. Like the first it was the girls laughing and changing clothes. Only the girls seemed to realise they were being watched this time and ran out of the room. To a shed of some sort. Alison tossed something into the structure and the girls fled. Seconds later the shed blew and Toby was carrying Jenna out of it.

Hanna's jaw dropped in shock. "The Jenna Thing. Spence had video of that. Why didn't she tell us?" "Hanna is that how…?" Caleb processed the meaning of the tape in his mind as Hanna lowered her eyes in guilt. "That's why Jenna hates us so much. Ali was the one who set fire to the shed, not Toby. Alison blackmailed both of them into covering for us. And we let her."

Alison DiLaurentis was a tornado of destruction from everything Caleb had seen. Even before they'd become good friends he'd never bought Toby being responsible for the fire. It had never seemed like him and Rosewood wasn't exactly known for its outstanding deductive skills. He'd never known the original reason for the feud between Jenna and the girls but the blind girl was a manipulative bitch. She'd hurt Hanna and had never been shy against striking at the girls any way she could. Even Toby who was technically family and was willing to give everyone a chance seemed to have a dislike against his stepsister.

Caleb squeezed Hanna's hand. "Nothing you just told me changes my opinion on any of the people involved in that story. You included." Hanna smiled and kissed him much more quickly than either of them would have liked but they didn't have time.

The next video was on a beach somewhere. He spots Melissa Hastings straight away. And the late D.t Darren Wilden appeared moments later. Jason DiLaurentis and CeCe Drake were also in the video. A party-goer grabbed the camera momentarily revealing the videographer as Spencer's former brother-in-law. The view cut back to the partygoers and in the background is a younger bikini-clad Alison DiLaurentis kissing some guy whose face is turned away from the camera. Hanna gets excited, because this has to be the Beach Hottie that almost got the other blonde pregnant but is ultimately left disappointed when they never see his face.

Hanna clicks on another video. Spencer walked across her kitchen staring at something on her tablet. "Oh my god," this video shocked Hanna. "Spencer bought that shirt like right after she lost the Decathlon quiz to Mona. I brought her for retail therapy. Ian and Garret were already dead. They didn't film this. The N.A.T. club didn't film this." Hanna's eyes were wide and he could see fear. If this wasn't the N.A.T. club then who had taken them. And how did Spencer get them.

The only other video of note was of Alison talking to the mirror in her room though what she did said no sense. Caleb had no idea what any of it meant.

But these videos had been on a USB key hidden in Spencer's room. These videos could be the reason she was missing.

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><p><em>Spencer stared at tree after tree after tree. She was in a forest with no clue how she got there and no idea of the way out. So now she was wandering around a forest, which she really, really hated doing. Bad memories.<em>

"_You look a little lost sweetie."_

_Spencer whirled around to see Alison DiLaurentis smirking at her. "Did you do this Alison? Where am I?"_

_Alison just smirked harder. "You tell me Spencer. You're the smart one. What do you see?"_

_Spencer scowled. She wasn't in the mood for games. "I see my manipulative ex-best friend playing with me. This is all a game to you. Tell me Ali is your own life so bad that you have to fuck with ours."_

_Alison just shook her head. On anyone else her expression might have passed for sympathetic but this was Ali so it was just disdain. "Is that what you think? Maybe you just can't see the wood from the trees honey." Spencer rolled her eyes at the dig._

"_Do you know why I picked you?" The question caught Spencer off guard. The blonde had always hinted that there was a special reason behind selecting each of the girls as her friends but Spencer had long since decided that it only seemed like an honour. In reality it was a poisoned chalice._

"_Because it was fun. You needed someone to amuse you. So why not smart, loyal, admiring and compassionate."_

_Alison laughed like Spencer's accusation was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. "Oh please honey. Mona might be smarter than she looked but she's as far off base as you. There are plenty of smart people around if that was all the job requirement needed. Why _**you**_?"_

_Typical Ali, always knowing exactly what to say or do, the perfect thing to draw you in. "Why don't _**you**_ tell me so."_

_Alison grinned. "There are two ways to handle a threat. Eliminate it before it eliminates you. Or see the opportunity and neutralise it. Turn it to a strength."_

_That was a joke. Alison had made sure she didn't have threats. She was the threat. "Is that what I was Alison. A threat to be neutralised."_

_There was that look again. That smug, belittling, superior look. The one Ali wore whenever she knew something you didn't. The look that forewarned a particularly stinging criticism. Spencer __**hated**__ that look._

"_It's better than the alternative. We're two sides of the same coin Spencer." Spencer made sure Alison didn't see her react but mentally she grimaced. Spencer herself knew it was at least partially true. Hanna shared Alison's blonde beauty, style and popularity but Spencer could claim the same determination, ambition and drive. It bothered her that a lot of her more dominant personality traits were not only ones that she wasn't proud of but reminded her so much of those she never wanted to emulate. Others had commented on it in the past too. After all that had been the basis of the original theory of Spencer hurting Alison to usurp her position in the group._

"_Face it sweetie we're two of a kind. You just have to figure out if you're dealing with heads," Spencer whirled around as Alison's gaze settled on something behind her. Another Alison. "Or tails," the Alison double finished._

Spencer came to all at once though it took her some seconds to gain her bearings. Every part of her hurt. Even the parts of her that had no nerve endings and therefore shouldn't be susceptible to pain hurt. She tried to stretch, to ease her body into a less agonising position but her limbs wouldn't cooperate. She couldn't see anything but darkness. It wasn't because she was actually blind Spencer realised but because she was blindfolded. The material was wrapped so tightly around her head that she literally couldn't open her eyes.

"She's coming around." Spencer strained to recognise the voice but she couldn't. Everything sounded distorted and far away like she was underwater.

"Yes we can see that thank you." "What the hell did you give her?" Two voices both of them different to the first. Damnit if she knew who her captors were she'd be able to strategize better. For now she'd have to buy time until she could figure out an escape plan. "What did you give me?" They already knew she was conscious she might as well ask questions. "And what do you want."

"You were hit with a Taser, it will take some time before the sensations go away, and then given a mix of clonazepam and sodium pentothal." That explained why she felt so strange then. "Standard Tasers are 0.02 to 0.04 amps and act like a temporary short-circuit between the messages spent by the brain to its muscles. Clonazepam is a sedative and is often used to treat epilepsy, anxiety and sleep disorders. Sodium Pentothal is used as an anaesthesia and is one of the drugs used in the lethal injection." Spencer grimaced as she realised what having those drugs in her system meant and why she felt like violently throwing up. "Sodium pentothal is also used as a truth serum. Where the hell did you go to med school, because I'm pretty sure that piece of paper your licence is printed on is worth more than your actual degree. There are better ways to kill me."

"Oh we don't want to kill you. Not yet anyway." The blindfold was suddenly removed and Spencer had to turn her head away. The bright lights overhead were blinding and sent bursts of pain from her corneas, up her optic nerves and straight to the back of her already throbbing skull.

Hearing and sight were gone but Spencer still had some of other her senses intact. The cement floor was freezing beneath her. She could feel the rough strands of rope that bound her hands behind her cutting into her wrists. The wooden beam she was tied to was chafing through the thin fabric of her blouse where her sweater had ridden up. Her legs were free but that didn't do her much good.

The air smelled stale and musty with a hint of fish. None of which told Spencer where she was.

"Where is it?"

"Where is what?" Spencer turned back towards her captors now that her eyes had adjusted somewhat. Not that it did much good. Apart from lights directly over her, the rest of the room, a basement maybe, was dark. All she could make out was shadows that crossed over into the small circle of light.

"You know what." The voice was sharp, angry and female. And distorted Spencer realised. Things didn't just sound strange because her body was still recovering, it was because her captors were using voice distorters.

A kick to her ankle brought her back. "Where are they?" Spencer had no clue what they were talking about. It couldn't be the girls. A knew where they always were. A knew where everything was. Her kidnappers were less than willing to believe her genuine confusion though and she received another kick. This time to her thigh.

"Give it up, no one knows where you are. No one's coming to help you. You're outnumbered, outsmarted and outmatched. Face it. You bitches never stood a chance. You're at my mercy. Always have been. I've always been better and I won before you ever realised you were playing. The best thing you can do for yourself is give me what I want and I'll make your end quick."

Spencer wasn't sure if it was the drugs affecting her judgement, her emotions coming to the surface after she'd tried locking them up for weeks or if she just couldn't care anymore. She laughed.

"You've won. Really? Are you sure? Because what if I don't give you what you want. What are you going to do? Kidnap me? Kill me? You're going to do that anyway and it still won't give you what you want."

"We can do more than that we can –"

"-Hurt everyone I love?" The laughter was gone now. All Spencer felt was rage. "Yeah you might be able to. You can stalk us, threaten us, and blackmail us. You can use our secrets against us and endanger the people we love. You can frame me for murder, and give me a break-down and whatever else you plan to do. It doesn't change the fact that my friends and I still win. We fought you. Even if we lose we fought back. And we won because there are things you can **never **take from us. Things that make us **better **than you. We didn't hide behind masks or hoods or letters. We didn't pretend to be something else because we were too scared to be ourselves. Be what you want to be as the _**mighty, powerful A.**_**"** Her temper was fully unleashed as she struggled against her bonds. She didn't try to lower her voice maybe someone would hear her and call for help. "At the end of the day you're nothing but a cowardly bully. You had to knock me unconscious. I'm outnumbered and tied up and drugged and you still can't talk to me face to face."

"Wow, you really need to lighten up. Clearly letting Toby Cavanaugh screw you senseless every chance he gets isn't doing enough for you." A face appeared in the light circle. One Spencer knew all too well. "Or is the problem that you haven't had enough. Trouble in paradise?"

"What do want Alison?"

Alison tilted her head silent, as another figure stepped forward and Spencer's stomach dropped. Anger turned to shock and disbelief. Alison she expected but not this.

"If you don't know what we're talking about it then just tell us where everything you have is." Emily kneeled down and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "That way nobody else gets hurt."

Spencer stared back in disbelief at the dark-haired girl. She still couldn't believe Emily had betrayed them like that. Emily, who saw the good in everyone and was willing to help anyone no matter what, was involved with A! Emily had been a target as much as the rest of them. How could she be a part of this?

She'd been wrong before. Thankfully her worst suspicions had been wrong once about a loved one betraying her. This had to be a similar situation. But even if it was the case, **Emily** was known for her trusting nature while Spencer was known for being the exact opposite. Even if the other girl was still her friend the rest of the room wasn't.

"I'm not telling you anything."

Emily glanced back at Alison who shrugged. "I guess someone's getting hurt then."

Emily nodded in reply before suddenly yanking hard on Spencer's arm. Spencer couldn't stop the scream that tore from her throat as the pain began.

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><p><strong>Hope you liked it.<strong>

**Also I'm currently thinking up A messages to each of the individual girls (Ali too) but I'm having trouble with a couple.**

**If you have any ideas let me know.**

**Thanks**


	3. Chapter 2

**Two chapters in the same day. Lucky readers.**

** Remember I was nice when you get to the end.**

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><p>Holbrook looked at the case board in front of him. The one that proved Spencer Hastings killed Bethany Young. Only Spencer Hastings was in the wind. An anonymous source had tipped them off that the girl was missing which had proven true when he'd checked for himself. Veronica Hastings swore that Spencer had walked into the backyard and never came back. The two undercovers that had been watching the house hadn't seen anything either and her friends claimed that they didn't know where she was but something bad had to have happened to her.<p>

He agreed with Tanner that the story was bogus at least Veronica Hastings' anyway. While they'd put officers at every airport, train station and bus shelter in the state, the Hastings had enough money and influence to get around that. Add the fact that Peter Hastings hadn't been reachable since the same time his daughter went missing and it didn't take a detective. They were helping their daughter flee.

And when he proved it, he'd make sure they all went down.

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><p>Since joining the Rosewood PD Toby had managed to achieve some of his goals. He'd been able to get access to the files and evidence they had on his mother's death, Alison's 'kidnapping', Bethany Young's murder and Mona's but in-keeping with Rosewood's fine tradition everything so far had either been useless or had only raised more questions. And it hadn't done anything to save Spencer.<p>

"We caught him speeding on the highway, just outside town." The voices caused Toby to glance in their direction but it was the man with them that kept his attention. Spencer's father.

Toby hurried down the hallway after them. Spencer had been missing for 30 hours at this point and Mrs Hastings had admitted to him that she hadn't been able to contact her estranged husband to let him know. Now the man had been brought in for speeding?

Toby watched through the mirror as Dt. Holbrook began his interview. He was completely shocked to learn that Mr Hastings had been pulled over for speeding and brought in after a search of his car.

"I realise I was over the limit Detective but I just found out my daughter is missing. The circumstances are understandable don't you think." While there was concern in his countenance, Mr Hastings was calm and collected. As was typical of the parental Hastings the lawyer was in-charge.

"The speeding's understandable. Why you had a gun and $5million in cash with you are a bit more questionable." Toby had to agree with Holbrook. Spencer's family were extremely wealthy and her parents and sister weren't shy about spending it when they felt like it. But even for the man who was used to solving his problems with his wallet or his influence, that was a lot of money to just have on hand in a car front seat.

"The gun's registered and the money is from my personal account. I haven't broken any laws and I'm co-operating, now will you stop harassing me and find my daughter." Toby was disgusted to note that the man was paying more attention to his phone than to the Detective charged with locating said daughter.

"Mr Hastings Spencer was missing for over 12 hours before she was reported missing to the police by someone who was neither a friend nor her parents. Your wife didn't report her missing despite Spencer not coming home for the night and in direct violation of a court order. Your whereabouts are still unknown for the time period and you have a large amount of cash on you. Your older daughter Melissa moved overseas recently. Mr Hastings you're smart enough to see how that looks."

"I'm not helping Spencer evade a murder charge because she hasn't done anything wrong." At least he was claiming that to the cops, too bad he couldn't say it to Spencer. "I want to talk to my wife." Another look at the phone.

"You can talk to your wife when we're done." Holbrook wasn't letting it go. "Can you give an account of your whereabouts, a detailed account, starting yesterday morning?" Holbrook glanced at the time, "or rather the day before yesterday morning.

"I was working. I met with a client until lunch. Had a lunch meeting with a colleague, a deposition in the afternoon and then went out to research a case." The irritation in the man's voice was clear. He didn't want to be there. "Which case?" "That's confidential. Now can I leave?" Another check of the phone.

"Mr Hastings!"

"WILL YOU LEAVE ME ALONE!" Ice coated Toby's heart as it clicked in his mind.

Toby knew Peter Hastings didn't like being disobeyed. By anyone. Police Detectives' included. And Toby had plenty of first-hand experience with the older man's temper. Spencer had gotten a lot of her fire from her father. Toby had seen her ire as well. But he also knew what most others didn't. The Hastings were actually capable of feeling fear not just inciting it in others.

Toby had seen the symptoms in Spencer so many times. The unwillingness to talk or explain. The constant review of her phone. The angry insistence for privacy never quite masking the fear in her eyes.

For as different as she was to the man who had given her his name, Toby saw the same signs in front of him.

He ignored the surprise of the two men as he barged into the room. "Toby!" Peter tried to stop him grabbing the phone but he was too slow.

The inbox was already on screen and he opened the one from the unknown sender. A picture of a bound and blindfolded Spencer.

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><p>Emily was worried. They'd tried everywhere they could think of, called everyone they knew Spencer knew and nothing. They hadn't heard from A either. Shouldn't that monster have been bragging about this? What if they were wrong about this? What if A wasn't responsible and Spencer had gotten lost in the woods again or been in an accident or something.<p>

She spotted Aria making her way back to her. One look at her face showed she hadn't had any luck either. Emily felt herself sag in disappointment letting herself fall against the lockers. She couldn't tell Toby nothing.

For all their differences Toby and Spencer both grieved rather alike. Neither of them had a great record of handling their break-ups well. Because of their less-than-supportive families both of them were so used to only counting on themselves that when they lost each other they mourned. Badly. And alone.

Spencer would lash out and develop a self-destructive streak that seemed so at odds with her usual rational persona. She shoved people half-way across a continent emotionally and shut down so completely that Emily wondered if she'd ever be more than just existing again.

And Toby would disappear. He'd build up walls so thick and high that it was impossible to get through to him. And then he'd take off leaving her to wonder if he was at least physically ok if not emotionally and mentally. If something happened to Spencer, it would destroy Toby.

Aria joined her against the lockers, not bothering to break the silence. They were out of ideas.

Laughter caught Emily's attention. Jenna and Noel were entering a classroom, grinning conspiringly like they knew some big secret which made Emily see red. She was done with secrets.

Emily heard Aria follow behind her but she didn't slow her pace. "Where is she?" Jenna stared back as if bored and Noel just smiled like the slimy ass he was. "Where's who?" "Spencer! she's missing."

"Have you tried the local rehab center or mental institution? County lock-up's also a pretty good bet too. Although given how well she's known at all of those places they probably would have ID'd her already." Noel snickered at Jenna's comment prompting Aria to ask about his hand while Emily resisted the urge to tackle one of them.

There was no love lost between Jenna and them. After Alison, Spencer was the one she most detested. Emily knew the animosity towards Spencer had little to do with Jenna's eyesight these days and everything to do with Toby.

"Listen Jenna, I know you're involved in this and I'll-" Jenna interrupted before she could finish her threat. "Spare me the overdramatic Emily. You're assuming I'd be willing to spend additional time with her than I already have. I didn't have anything to do with Spencer's disappearance. When are you bitches going to learn that I'm not the real enemy?"

Emily rolled her eyes. She'd heard the other girl's cryptic spiel enough times. She tossed a look at Noel and stormed out of the room Aria behind her. They were finding Spencer.

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><p>"I got the photo last night along with a message for $5million by this morning. At first I thought it was some silly prank but then I got your voicemail that Spencer was missing. " Peter's eyes darted towards Veronica pacing the other side of the table. "I realised they were serious and if they didn't get their money…"<p>

Toby watched Spencer's parents as they wrestled with the severity of the situation. The Hastings had the most complicated relationship dynamic he'd ever seen. And that included his own really messed up family and most of Rosewood's residents.

They demanded perfection, were quick to judge each other and never had they seemed to express any sort of real support. Especially to Spencer who was forced to grow up in a household that seemed to hold more suspicion, lies, secrets, fear and guilt than it did good memories. And as much as Spencer longed to escape she was fiercely loyal to her family even when she held the darkest misgivings of them.

But he also knew that she secretly wondered if her family would be relieved if she just left.

If only she could see what he could now.

Veronica was fighting back tears her usual calm composure rapidly disintegrating, while Peter looked troubled and defeated. Both parents were devastated at the thought of losing their daughter. It was just too bad they'd never expressed their concern before or during all the other times Spencer had been in trouble and they'd never noticed.

"What were you thinking Peter?" Veronica ceased her pacing to face her estranged husband. "Going by yourself and not telling anyone?! Were you planning to shoot them? You could have gotten yourself and Spencer killed."

"I was trying to protect her. To protect all of us." He could hear the break in the other man's voice. Peter Hastings wasn't known as a caring father but he was genuinely distraught now. "The police in this town don't exactly have a sterling reputation," he added bitterly.

Toby waved away the perfunctionary apology at the insult. It wasn't like he thought differently.

Silence filled the room interrupted by the sound of a ringtone. Blocked Number.

Immediately other officers and detectives filled the conference room, shouting commands, and ordering equipment and searches. Holbrook conversed with Officer Maple before gesturing to Peter to answer.

"You missed the money drop." He felt his hand clench into a fist as he recognised the voice distorter A used for the few times verbal contact was required.

"I was delayed. But I have the money if you give me new directions I'll get it to you but I want to talk to Spencer first," Peter negotiated. "I want to know my daughter's alright."

"We gave you our instructions. $5million in cash this morning. Tell no one. You neglected to follow our orders. You either don't understand or don't care and your arrogance will have a cost."

"Wait we can make a new deal." Peter bargained desperately.

The voice ignored him and a scuffling sound could be briefly heard from the phone.

"Stay away from me bitch!"

"Spencer!" Toby leaned in as close as he could at the sound of her voice. It was weaker than he would have liked but there was no mistaking the defiant steel.

The hope turned to anger as Spencer gave a cry of pain. When he caught those responsible he would make sure they experienced every ounce of pain they put her through.

"What the hell? No please, please don't." Toby's blood turned cold. Spencer's words were pure unadulterated fear. Whatever was happening terrified her. "Please I won't tell a soul I swear. It'll be a secret. Please don't do this!"

He was listening to Spencer plead for her life. She was begging that bitch not to kill her. And she didn't realise her promise of silence was obsolete because it was being broadcast as she spoke.

A click sounded. He felt sick as he recognised it. It was a sound he'd heard frequently since enrolling in the academy. It was the click of a gun.

"You don't win this." A wasn't going to make a deal. This wasn't another threat. This was a statement. And Spencer was meant to be the message.

"Whatever you want I'll give it to you. Please don't do this." Spencer's appeals grew more frantic.

He heard a voice repeatedly call her name. He didn't realise it was his own.

The gun fired.

Spencer screamed and the line went dead just as his phone beeped with a text from a blocked number.

A picture of Spencer with the words 'In Loving Memory' above it. _'One down bitches, and the rest of you are on my list.'_

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><p><strong>Reviews will encourage me to update faster now that I'm back at work just so you know.<strong>


	4. Chapter 3

**Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed. It was great to see so many when I checked my inbox.**

**Everyone's wondering if I'll really kill off Spencer. The answer is ... you'll see.**

**This chapter is short but you do find out if Spencer is alive or dead (also no guarantees on anyone's survival/ expiry status for any part of this story).**

**Also there are some pretty big clues in this chapter to make up for the shortness.**

**One final note if you're an Ezria fan I'm really not. Ian Harding and Lucy Hale seem like a blast but I'm tolerant of Aria at best and I'm still angry that Fitz survived that GSW. They don't have huge parts but don't expect them to have a big happy ending in this story. **

**And now here's the next chapter.**

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><p>Emily was numb. That was the only word she could use that fit. When Toby had called them about Spencer's abduction they'd rushed to the station. Endless questions later they were informed that Spencer was dead.<p>

Now they sat on a couple of wooden benches in a hallway listening to the keening wails of Spencer's mom and trying to figure out what to do now that their intense, brilliant, fierce friend was gone.

Hanna sobbed in Caleb's arms while Aria squeezed her hand as she shook. Emily herself watched Toby a few seats down from them. He looked … lost. Emily was worried about him. Worrying about Toby was easier than focusing on her own feelings.

And she had every reason to worry. Emily knew what it was like to lose a lover. It tore you apart until there was almost nothing left to recognize. But as painful as losing Maya was she'd been able to make it through. She suspected it would be worse for Toby.

She knew how much he loved Spencer and how much she tethered him to Rosewood. When Spencer had thought Toby had died it had put her in Radley. She had been shattered. Emily had never doubted the same thing would happen if the roles were reversed. She couldn't shake the fear that if she ever took her eyes off Toby now she'd **never **see him again.

Aria straightened beside her as Ezra ran up to them. Toby didn't so much as blink as the older man passed him.

The tiny girl threw herself into her boyfriend's arms, weeping. "Ezra thank god you're here. A killed Spencer. She shot her. A killed my best friend. I need you so much right now. I need to know I didn't lose you too." "You didn't lose me," Ezra crooned. "I'm right here. I'll always be here. Thank god you weren't hurt."

Emily wanted to throw something at them. She didn't resent Aria her misery or her comfort. She'd been silently wishing that Paige wasn't out of town with her family because Emily desperately needed her own girlfriend right now. But what the pixie and the teacher didn't seem to notice was that Toby was only feet away. And their obvious public declaration and romance was a violent reminder of who they'd just lost.

They hadn't been in the room. They hadn't heard Spencer's last words. They hadn't heard her shot. But Toby had. Emily was sure that in a way he had died with Spencer.

Her seething at the oblivious couple turned to fury as she saw Alison at the far end of the hallway. Her rage was so powerful that it paralyzed her. Alison's face was a perfect mask of sorrow and remorse. She paused with her father to say a few words to Mr and Mrs Hastings before turning her gaze on them briefly and walking into an interview room.

"What is **she** doing here?!" Hanna's tone was venomous but Emily agreed with the blonde. Alison had thrown Spencer straight under a bus for Bethany's murder. She had made it clear she considered them the enemy. So why would she show unless it was to soak in her own victory.

"They want to talk to Alison about her kidnapping," Emily looked up as her mother squeezed her shoulder. "Since Alison and Spencer were both taken from the same place they think they might be connected. It may help them catch the person who did this once and for all."

"But it won't bring back Spencer," Emily pointed out tearfully. Her mom gave her a small smile and pulled Emily into a much needed hug.

"Why question Alison though? The two circumstances are very different right?" Her mom pulled away at Ezra's question, looking over to him in surprise.

Her mom had said quite a bit about Aria and Mr Fitz when she had found out about them.

"I don't know why Mr Fitz. But they must think there's some connection. I'm going to see if Spencer's parents need anything ok, sweetie."

Caleb waited until her mom was out of earshot before saying what they were all thinking. "Who wants to bet that the 'connection' came from Alison via Holbrook?"

"I agree," Fitz nodded. "But what's their plan?"

They lapsed into silence once more. Nobody had any idea what A had planned.

"Why the money?" Emily blinked at Caleb's unexpected question. The boy was focused on the floor deep in thought. "Why did A ask for money? They never wanted it from you guys before?"

It was Hanna who answered, frowning in concentration. "No never. They used money **against** **us** but they never wanted it. I always thought A just had a ton of money stuffed in a box somewhere. They never threatened us for money."

"They didn't want money from you guys though, they wanted it from Spencer's parents." They all started as Toby spoke for the first time since they'd… since they'd lost Spencer. He sounded hoarse, his voice was rougher, broken and his eyes were hollow.

"It makes sense though. I mean of all of us Spencer's family are the ones to ask for money. They can afford everything."

Toby shook his head at Aria. "But why draw so much attention? Mr Hastings isn't going to forget about someone threatening him or blackmailing his family. Spencer's parents have the resources to look for A if they want to." He leveled Caleb a look. "You think there's something else."

Caleb nodded, furthering elaborating at the girls puzzled expressions. "A's always threatened you guys to stay silent. A wants to stay under the radar. So why announce themselves like that. Even Rosewood PD are going to notice that they have to do something about the nut-job killing people over the phone. It's completely their opposite M.O."

"Before A was a ghost only we knew about. Now the entire police department does to. But why the money? Ezra mused. "Even for someone like Peter Hastings it's hard to get $5 million in cash in a short amount of time. Especially without any red flags being raised."

"What are you saying?"

"Whoever decided the ransom had to know how much Peter could get that fast. And given the risks, whoever it was must have been desperate or didn't care about the repercussions from the Hastings. It doesn't seem to fit. At least not Alison being responsible. She's the most obvious person for the cops and A's smarter than deliberately bringing that kind of suspicion on themselves. Who else would know the Hastings financial situation and seem like a victim? Someone who wouldn't draw attention."

"What if A didn't kill Spencer?" Hanna's question got all of their attention. What was the blonde thinking? "I know A/ Alison/ whoever killed Mona. I saw her blood. And they probably killed Spencer. But what if they didn't kill Spencer?"

"I'm not sure I understand what you're saying," Ezra muttered in confusion. Yeah none of them did, Emily thought. "What are you talking about Hanna?"

"A killed Toby!" Hanna exclaimed. "Except they didn't because…" she gestured at Toby. "A loves messing with us. What if they're messing with us now because they want us to think Spencer's dead."

"Why would they want us to think that?"

"I don't know. I'm not A!" Hanna threw her hands in the air in frustration. "But I do know someone who's as smart as Spencer, knows the Hastings and definitely knows what's going on.

"Guys we need to talk to Melissa."

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><p>They'd questioned her for what seemed like days. Well tortured more accurately. Coming and going asking questions over and over, viciously beating her when she didn't give them what they wanted. The last time anyone had come down here they'd dragged her to her feet and put a gun to her head.<p>

Spencer's eyes stung from the blindfold and the tears trapped along her lashes. She was still trembling from earlier events. Her legs were like jelly from the kicks she'd received. She suspected her shoulder was dislocated and she could feel the slices in her wrists from the rope.

Her ears still rang from the gunshot and her lungs were only starting to feel less like lead. She could still smell the gunshot residue. The bullet was buried in the wood behind her an inch from her head.

Voices sounded overhead and she paused from her efforts to untie the knots binding her hands behind her.

"I don't care what you think. We didn't get the money. They think she's dead. We stick to the plan. So do your job."

A door slammed and Spencer tugged at the last of the ropes. She felt the ties start to give way as someone entered the basement, walking down the stairs behind her.

Spencer tensed as she sensed the stranger kneel beside her and remove her blindfold. It took a moment for her vision to return and when it did she was looking at the black mask A sometimes wore. The hooded figure carefully treated her injuries, gently cleaning her open wounds and wrapping her bad knee. She cringed as Hockey Mask leaned in closer. She unintentionally inhaled and felt dizzy from the smell. Unlike 'Alison' and 'Emily' from earlier this captor was male. His cologne was woefully strong and made her want to gag.

Spencer forced the nausea down. She couldn't hear anyone else in the house and Hockey Mask didn't seem to be guarded around her. She waited until he turned away from her and then she attacked.

She jumped up suddenly, knocking him off balance and shoving him into the nearby shelves. He grunted as books, old clothes and other junk fell on top of him.

Spencer sprinted up the stairs and through the door. She could hear him groaning as he pulled himself free and came after her. She fled for the kitchen.

Her abductor followed her into the kitchen. He spied the open door and scrutinized the yard and woods behind before setting off into the trees.

Spencer crept out of her hiding spot under the kitchen table, grateful for the long cloth that had hidden her and helped her ruse. She slipped into the hall and slide into the room that was half ajar.

It was an office of some kind. Books lined the small desk. Stevenson's 'Jekyll and Hyde', Dostoevsky's 'The Double', Philip K. Dick's 'A Scanner Darkly' and a small notebook. Spencer flipped through the notebook but she didn't have time to study it. She scanned the sheets of paper in a corner of the desk. They were handwritten on Radley headed paper. They looked like Doctors notes but the scrawl was too difficult to read now. On the back someone had written more points in a different hand but the only ones she could read were _Courtney_ and _D.I.D. _She grabbed a plastic bag and wrapped it around the notebook and file notes and slipped them into her sweater pocket. Her searching dislodged some of the other items and Spencer gasped as she glimpsed a police shield.

Shouts could be heard and Spencer made her way to the window. There was nothing else in the office she could use. She'd sneak outside and watch who came and went. That would tell her who A was.

She quietly opened the window. Climbing out the small opening was painful but she managed it. She landed on the wooden terrace and edged her way to the side of the house. She inched her head around the corner and was met with a blow to her template. She was out cold before she hit the ground.

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><p><strong>So Spencer's not dead. Yet.<strong>

**Same drill as before. Reviews act as bribes for me.**

**And since I'll be bribed with reviews, I'll give you an incentive. Next chapter has the gang figuring out where Spencer might be.**

**No promises everyone escapes the next chapter still breathing though.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Another big thank you to everyone who reviews, favorites or follows this story. It's so much fun to read all your theories. Now I understand why A does it. It's not about the torture it's about the power and seeing how they react. It's bringing out my inner impish side.**

**On that note I really want to see how you all like this chapter. Especially since some of you have figured out some of the A-Team. No one's gotten it fully right though. If someone guesses who Uber-A is and why they are A I'll dedicate a chapter to you.**

**For everyone begging me not to kill Spencer and to let Toby find her you're going to love this chapter.**

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><p>'<em>You are my once upon a time -S.<em>' The words glinted against the overhead lights, almost dancing off the watch like magic. Like the fairy-tale stories they came from. Like Spencer herself.

She'd always seemed like a magical fairy-tale princess to him. One that braved the wrath of the evil witch, who fought the villain and risked everything for others and who saved the prince or the street rat or whoever he was meant to be.

If Emily was his fairy godmother, and that girl was likely everyone's, Spencer was his true love and happy ending.

_So what does that make the rest of our friends? The singing woodland creatures with magic housekeeping powers? Because I would pay to see a Hanna-bird clean the dishes._ The thought sounded so suspiciously like the dry-witted dark-eyed beauty he'd been thinking of that a brief smile flitted across his face.

She couldn't be dead. She just couldn't. He'd know. Spencer was the smartest, bravest, strongest, most loving person Toby had ever met. He couldn't lose her.

Especially not like this. Spencer was supposed die in her bed at a hundred and four surrounded by her kids and grandkids and great-grandkids who all adored her. After she'd changed the world and won the Nobel Prize for curing world hunger or cancer or some other miraculous feat that only Spencer could pull off. They were suppose stop A and she was to go to college and they'd get married and have their happy ever after for the rest of their lives.

She wasn't supposed to die at seventeen, not even out of high school, victim to the deranged psychopath that stalked her. She wasn't just another tragedy for this town to talk about, whose memory rested on their empty platitudes'.

She had to be alive. She had to escape Rosewood and live a full life the way she wanted to live it. She had to be alive so that he could give her that life like he had promised.

Toby blamed himself. It was his fault. He was supposed to protect her. He had vowed to keep her safe. He should have fought harder against her parents to let him see her. He knew that their break-up was Spencer's idea, and not her parents who agreed with it for their own reasons but that still didn't change things.

At least this time he had all the facts. He knew that she loved him and was trying to protect him. That she thought she'd drag him back to the dark times in his life with her situation. But for all of her incredibly-high IQ Spencer couldn't seem to grasp that he was so much better-off, so much happier with her even in an eternity of turmoil than he ever would be alone in a time of calm.

A knock on the door behind him caught his attention and he saw Emily gesturing to him. They were ready.

Toby closed the watch and slipped it into his pocket. It was his most prized possession along with his truck and Scrabble board. While the gift of a pocket watch was truly Spencer most people wouldn't associate the endearment with her. And yet it was as much a reflection of her as her perfect GPA. She was the intense, self-assured, intelligent, over-achieving, strong-willed, ambitious, aloof perfectionist with a sharp tongue that people thought of her as. But she was also so much more. She was resolute and resilient. She was sweet, protective and profoundly kind. And as derisive as she could be she truly wanted to believe in others but she'd been betrayed and disappointed too many times to trust in the myth any more.

Toby didn't know if Melissa could help. But he'd try anything for Spencer.

"Nobody can hear us or see us right?" Hanna checked around the room for anything that looked like it could record their conversation. Toby shook his head. "Not that I know of." Not that it mattered anyway, A would still find a way to screw them over.

Hanna focused her attention instead on the computer monitor. She'd been as shocked as anyone when Melissa had actually responded to her text to talk.

So here they were, standing in an empty room of the station staring at a laptop, hoping a video conference with someone Hanna herself referred to as a 'sketchy bitch' would help.

It only took a moment for the connection to be made and the older Hastings sister was staring back at them.

"What do you know?" Hanna's always been the one to share Spencer's bluntness out of the three girls. Melissa however doesn't seem to appreciate this similarity. "Hello to you too Hanna."

"Look Melissa we don't have time to exchange barbed insults," Aria snapped.

It was Emily who raised the topic none of them wanted to. "Do you know? About Spencer?" Actual worry appeared on Melissa's face at the questions. Spencer's sister had indicated in the past that she sincerely did care about her. But like her parents had been so spare, nonchalant and conflicting in showing it that Spencer was never sure if it was truly for her benefit or to protect the family name. Much like his relationship with his own father, Toby was sure that the Hastings loved their youngest, but their inability to communicate it only served to cause her pain.

Looking at Melissa now, Toby was sure that she genuinely cared for her younger sibling. "Is she… Do you know if she's…?" "We don't know," Emily's voice revealed her own fear. "We know she's been taken and we think she might be alive. But we don't know if she's OK."

Melissa's eyes shut in grief or relief, Toby couldn't tell. "Thank you for telling me. I couldn't bring myself to talk to Mom and Dad about it."

"Yeah there's a lot you won't talk about," Aria muttered loud enough for the microphone and Melissa to hear. The older Hastings surveyed them as if she were judging them. Since she was Melissa she was. "Spencer told you."

"Yeah, she did." Aria hissed. None of the girls looked happy but Aria was currently the most worked up. "Do you know what you did? To Bethany? Do you know what you did to Spencer? What she's going through? All this time you knew when they started looking at Spencer. When Alison was missing."

Aria's anger seemed to incite Melissa's own. "I know! I know what I've done and what I have to live with. But don't act like you do know Aria. You know nothing! I know my sister's the brains of your little club but are you all really so stupid. Alison is not an innocent victim. She's Pandora. Alison creates victims not the other way around and she's been trying to destroy Spencer since the day they met. I know what you think of me and my family. Our family has a specific culture. We act in certain ways but I love Spencer and I've been shielding her from all of this. "

"Great job." Hanna rolled her eyes.

"I don't have to explain myself to any of you."

"Just Spencer and why she's taking the fall for you" Aria retorted.

"Then why don't you explain to the police about how Jenna Marshall really lost her sight, Aria. And where Alison really was to the past two and a half years because we all know she wasn't kidnapped. You can include how Ezra Fitz got shot and Shana Fring died in New York because I know they're part of the story too."

The colour drained from Aria's face but Toby didn't care as much as he should have. They didn't have the time. "This isn't helping Spencer. Melissa please just tell us what you know." Much like her parents Melissa always seemed to think Toby would never be good enough for Spencer she had only grown to tolerate him. Melissa's eyes shared the same physical characteristics as her sibling but they had never had Spencer's mischievous warmth or her unguarded love. But right now Toby could see them glimmer. Melissa was fighting tears. She was scared. "I've been trying to protect her from all of this. I warned her so many times. Spencer's fatal flaw is her idealism. Once she gets something in her head she won't let it go. She insists on seeing things in black and white, she won't accept that the world's grey. It's full of comprises and understandings. Things are rarely the way they seem and they're what you want them to be even less. Spencer's always known it but she refuses to accept it."

"Can you actually tell us something instead of speaking in cli-shay's?" Hanna's entire person was dripping with frustration. Toby couldn't blame her but there was something about Melissa's words that struck a chord. The phrasing, it almost seemed as if… "You know what's going on and you think Spencer does too. That's why A took her."

Surprise was clear on Melissa's face and something that on anyone else might have passed for respect. "Maybe I could understand it." The low murmur was doused in judgement. "I knew it was only a matter of time before she put the pieces together. Or at least enough of them to see the real picture. She was looking in the wrong places. At me, at Jenna, at Ian. It was good in a way. It stopped her being a target the way we were. But she was getting closer every time. And she was there that night. I tried to stop it as much as I could. I wanted her to come with me. I asked her to. But she wouldn't leave you."

"You knew about this all this time. But you never said anything. Not when the police thought so many people were guilty. Spencer, Toby, Garret. You never said anything." Emily's eyes were wide. "When you sent that confession to Spencer you seemed upset about Bethany but you never told anyone. You didn't feel anything when you thought Alison was the one who was dead."

Melissa only stared calmly back at the allegation.

"Did Ian know?" Hanna bit her lip in nervousness. "Is that why he tried to kill Spencer."

"Is that why you believed that pervert over your own flesh and blood," Aria scowled at the computer screen. She was clearly determined not to forgive Melissa for any of her transgressions against Spencer.

She earned a glare back. "And when you had to choose between your family and your teacher Aria, who did you choose?"

"OK, this verbal cat-fight is high on entertainment value but low on the Intel." Toby was grateful for Caleb cutting in when he did. If Toby opened his mouth he'd say something he'd regret and the other boy was forward enough to cut straight to the point. "You were working with Mona in her Anti-Alison club and I'm guessing Jenna's involved as well. Why?"

"Apart from sharing the same feelings about Alison?" Melissa didn't leave room for a reply. "We wanted answers and we wanted insurance."

"Insurance for what."

Toby barely heard the question. "The N.A.T. club. Spencer was convinced that someone was after the members. Garret, Ian and Jason were all targets and so was Jenna. And you. Was Wilden? Did you see something you weren't supposed to? That's why Spencer was framed. Because she knows something someone doesn't want her too."

This time the expression was something that could be mistaken for approval but Toby didn't give a damn. Spencer was what mattered not what Melissa thought of him. "I think she does. Or someone thinks she might. It's what got Mona killed. You aren't the only ones caught in this. I'm smarter. I left town. I kept my mouth shut. Someone wants us dead. I didn't understand it fully until this summer. I didn't realize how big this was. I don't know what any of you know. Or what Spencer knows. I don't have all the pieces myself but I know a key piece of the puzzle and if Spencer's not in Rosewood it might be somewhere they'd take her. It's the most logical one."

"Where?"

"Cape May."

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><p>When she came to it was dark and she felt herself rocking. The air now was crisp and clean and she regained her wits faster this time. It was night-time and she was on a boat.<p>

She was hauled suddenly up and dragged to the side of the boat. Spencer strained against the boat's driver, dread filling her as she realized the person planned to dump her overboard. She screamed trying to get the attention of anyone who might hear but a hand slammed over her lips taping her mouth shut. Her hands and feet were also bound with tape and her resistance wasn't enough. She felt the shove and the fall before she felt the icy water hit her like thousands of shards of glass. She caught a glimpse of blonde hair and Alison's face as the boat turned for shore.

She fought to keep her head above the surface. She did everything she could think of to float and tread water. But she was beyond exhausted, the cold had stunned her and she didn't have the energy or the functioning limbs to keep herself up.

She couldn't get the tape off her and her clothes weighed her down. She sank below the surface and panic set in. In the darkness she got disoriented. She couldn't tell which way was up.

Her eyes drifted close and her lungs burned for air. She breathed in.

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><p>Toby didn't care that he'd broken so many of the traffic laws that he was now supposed to enforce. He didn't care that Caleb had winced and gripped his laptop or the arm rest so tightly his knuckles went white. Toby didn't care that this was probably a wild goose chase. He'd take any lead he could get if it offered even the slightest chance of finding Spencer. A was a genius at psychological warfare. Toby wouldn't give up hope until he had irrefutable proof that Spencer was never coming back.<p>

And if that happened, he didn't care what happened to him.

Toby forced the thoughts out of his head. If Melissa was right and A was indeed at the DiLaurentis' summer house than he needed to be prepared. For all their sakes.

A quick survey from the outside showed no one so he and Caleb didn't waste time in being subtle. The time of year meant all the surrounding houses were empty so thankfully no neighbors were around to report a break in.

There were signs of _something_ in the basement. Shreds of rope and cloth. A couple of drops of recent blood. And a bullet buried in the wooden banister. No Spencer though. Or anyone else.

The second floor was practically bare. The only room that showed any signs of anyone ever being there was Alison's. Clothes were hanging in the wardrobe. The bed was made. Pictures of her were everywhere. It could have been a shrine.

In fact the only disturbance to the room was a picture lying against the far wall. It was a picture of the five girls, one of several in the room and one he'd seen in both Spencer's and Emily's bedrooms. The frame and glass were broken as if someone had hurled it against the wall in anger.

Anger at who or what though?

The urgency in Caleb's voice caused Toby to forget about the picture and hurry downstairs. He found his friend in a first floor room and had to resist the urge to hit something. Or be sick.

It's not A's lair. He's spent enough time in that twisted hellhole to recognize it at a glance. But what's before him is no less ominous. There's only a handful of photos with Emily, Hanna and Aria, even Alison. And almost all of them are accidental.

The room is filled wall to wall with pictures of Spencer and her family. Photos, newspaper clippings, online articles, yearbook pages.

"What the fuck," Caleb says and Toby agrees with him. Even by Rosewood standards, this is messed-up. Whoever decorated the room clearly had a grudge against the Hastings because just about everything has been defaced.

A picture of Peter has been slashed. A club newsletter article on Melissa has been crossed out and rewritten with words that even Alison would have found harsh. A clipping on a win of Spencer's has been ripped up and taped haphazardly back together.

Caleb spots something on the other end of the room and rips it off the wall. An ID for Veronica Hastings. "Correct me if I'm wrong," his voice indicating he was anything but "that looks a lot more like Alison's mother than Spencer's."

"It is Alison's mother." Why did Mrs DiLaurentis have a fake ID saying she was Mrs Hastings? "She was going to tell the cops that Spencer was the one who killed Alison." Despite the woman knowing damn well that Spencer had been innocent. "Mr Hastings blackmailed her to keep quiet."

"I'm guessing she's the one responsible for the interior designing." Toby could only nod in agreement. The DiLaurentis and the Hastings had a volatile relationship to put it mildly. And he still didn't know where Spencer was.

Toby felt his minuscule sliver of hope disappear. There had to be some clue. Spencer didn't just disappear into thin air. And yet that seemed to be almost exactly what had happened. They didn't have anything else

The fear that he had locked up ever since Veronica had told him Spencer was missing pushed free. He'd been trying to think positive since Hanna's suggestion but he didn't have it in him anymore. He had failed Spencer. He could only hear her voice pleading in terror. Hear the gunshot that likely ended her life and took her away from him, from her family and friends.

Had he really lost Spencer? He'd never get to hear her laugh again or run his fingers through her silky dark waves. She'd never curl herself around him or look at him with those gorgeous brown eyes of hers, full of love and trust.

His phone beeps with a text from an unknown number. _Poor Spencer. She dove right into the deep end. And then she sank._

They get A's taunt immediately and it doesn't take them long to find the nearest body of water. Toby races towards the dock before the truck's barely parked. He has no idea why. He just has a feeling.

He spots something in the water. About twenty yards out. He doesn't stop when Caleb calls his name. He just pauses long enough to shed his shoes and bulky sweater before he dives in.

It's Spencer but Toby doesn't have time to be relieved. He can't worry about the fact that she's alarmingly still and a frightening shade of blue. He has to get her to the shore, to safety. Caleb helps pull Spencer out of the water and lie her on the dock.

Toby pulls his pocket knife out and slices through the tape at her wrists and ankles and pulls the tape from her mouth. She's ice cold to the touch and Toby's own heart stops when he can't find her pulse. She's not breathing.

The freezing realization hits harder than the air and water combined.

Spencer is dead.

* * *

><p><strong>Well Toby found Spencer...<strong>

**You know the drill by now.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Wow. I honestly thought you guys would want to tie me up in a basement somewhere after that last chapter but most of you seemed really excited by the cliffhanger. Guess this means I should kill some more characters off. Hehe.**

**Those asking for Spoby should like this chapter hopefully. And I mean that truthfully this time. No sarcasm or snark intended.**

**Also thanks to everyone who is reading this. Not just the ones PMing me but the anonymous reviewers and even those who don't review it's still great to know that people are enjoying this.**

**Happy New Year.**

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><p>Toby had started CPR but it wasn't working. They couldn't call for help because there was no signal and the marina was deserted. They didn't know how long Spencer had been in the water or what her injuries were. Caleb couldn't remember the statistics on CPR success rates but he was sure they weren't in Spencer's favor. And wasn't there something about it only being useful in the first few minutes. He didn't know how long they'd been trying but it had to have been too long.<p>

"Spencer!" Toby was devastated as he pleaded for a response from the girl and got nothing. "Please Spence."

Caleb might not have entered the icy water but he still felt like he'd been doused in it all the same. Spencer had drowned. They hadn't gotten to her in time. Toby had lost his girlfriend and Hanna had lost another friend. And so had he.

For a brief moment Caleb didn't see Spencer lying in front of him, he saw another girl. The hair was shorter, the clothes were different. Another girl he'd promised to help and failed.

The girl became Spencer again as she suddenly coughed her body jerking with the movement. Toby quickly helped her onto her side to make it easier for her to throw up the water in her system. The other boy rubbed her back and murmured soothing words. Caleb was sure the relief he felt was minuscule to Toby's as Spencer stirred. "Toby? Am I dreaming?" Caleb couldn't help grinning even if he was watching the couple be all lovey-dovey with each other. "You dream about lying on a dock and forcing me to watch you two play tonsil hockey with each other? You should probably see someone about that."

"Caleb?" she squinted up at him. "You know I have seen and heard way worse about your _**consorting **_with Hanna. You two still owe me for the deep clean for my Nana's couch which I had to hide from my parents even though it cost a fortune."

"Are you still pissed about that?"

Spencer just glared at him as she tried to push herself up. Toby wrapped his arms around her from behind, taking her weight and guiding her into a sitting position. Caleb caught the flash of anger that crossed the older teen's face before he pressed his expression into a more neutral one. Caleb couldn't blame the guy. If it had been Hanna he'd be murderous.

Now that she was moving, the extent of Spencer's injuries were somewhat assessable and completely noticeable given the fact her entire skin tone was about five shades paler than usual. She had a bad gash on the left side of her head just along her hairline. The only reason it wasn't bloodier was because of her forced bath. The same side also showed a bruised cheek that reached from her eye to her split lip. She was favoring one of her arms and she clearly couldn't straighten her right leg completely. On top of that her jeans were stained with god only knows what and her sweater was practically ripped all the way open as well as across the sleeves displaying both her red, swollen, bloody wrists and the angry bruises across her stomach and chest.

Toby pressed his lips tightly together in fury before grabbing his sweatshirt and wrapping it tightly around his shivering girlfriend. "You need to see a Doctor." Spencer opened her mouth but Toby beat her to it. "Don't even think about saying you're fine." Spencer looked like she was going to argue before conceding for once.

Toby tossed his keys to Caleb since he was currently occupied with Spencer, lifting her up and carrying her towards the car bridal style. Caleb was completely in agreement at the unspoken plan. Get Spencer to a hospital, then get to safety.

* * *

><p>It was easy to forget how slight Spencer was. She was pure focus, tenacity and intensity and could manipulate the laws of physics itself when she wanted. Most people just didn't register her slender build. But the exam bed she currently lay on only seemed to exaggerate her smallness and paleness. She was still Spencer. That fire in her wasn't simply extinguished but she had taken a beating. She was quieter than usual.<p>

They'd taken Spencer straight to the nearest ER to get her checked out. The doctors had performed some initial tests asking different questions to gauge her mental state, checking her lungs and a bunch of other stuff that Toby hoped was standard medical procedure when someone drowned. The doctor had seemed satisfied with everything and that Spencer was lucky and didn't seem to have suffered any brain damage. Likely due to the temperature of the water given the time of year and the rest of the explanation had gone right over his and Caleb's heads though Spencer had no trouble following it. She'd even summed it up for them after. "A unintentionally saved my life by trying to kill me like that."

Still Toby wasn't buying the lunatics a thank you card anytime soon.

Spencer hissed under her breath in pain. She tried to hide it but Toby caught it anyway. A tremor of guilt ran through him. They were waiting on x-rays to confirm the rest of Spencer's injuries. Including whether or not her ribs were broken.

Spencer must have caught his self-reproach because she tugged on his hand. "Don't feel bad Tobes. None of this is your fault." He leaned forward in his chair yielding to her summons and his own need to touch her. "I broke your ribs." His thumb traced her jaw in contrition and she pressed her good cheek against his palm in disagreement. "You **_might _**have broken my ribs. It might have been someone else. Besides it's next to impossible to successfully perform CPR without breaking any I'll take a couple of broken bones if it means I still get to breathe." She brushed her lips along the inside of his wrist.

"But if you feel like you want to make it up to me you can always volunteer as my slave. I can think of some ways you can help make me feel better while I'm recuperating." Toby couldn't help but chuckle at the words or at the impishness in her eyes and grin. No doubt she'd make sure he paid his debt.

Caleb gagged behind them. "If you two are going to be mushy I'm going to go eat. You guys want anything?"

"Coffee?" Spencer's face lit up like someone had offered her a car.

Caleb however was much less powerless against her puppy dog eyes than Toby was because he just looked at her like she was nuts. "Seriously? That's what you want. Coffee? It probably tastes like tar. Can you even have any?"

Spencer's signature eye roll appeared. "Have you met me? I haven't had any in days. Any kind would taste good."

Caleb shook his head and left with a promise to return with food and beverages.

"You know caffeine probably isn't good for you right now." His admonishment was half-hearted. It wouldn't do her any good but she could ask him for the moon and he'd give it to her.

"I'm in no-caffeine mode right now. That's not good for anyone. Besides if Hanna was here she'd tell you that providing me with coffee is the best form of medicine since my body is ninety-eight percent caffeine. It's better than a transfusion." There was nothing Spencer couldn't talk her way into or out of. "While that could actually be true in your case, I think we should wait to hear from the professional who actually went to med-school."

"Aria thinks I've already been." Really there wasn't an angle she wouldn't try. "And I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions regarding my medical care. If I want coffee I'm having coffee!" He didn't doubt that, but made a note to still check if he should at least attempt to body-block her from any barista within a five-mile radius.

The point made on her choice of fluid intake she tugged on his sweatshirt. "On the plus side at least this didn't get bloody. It saves a few dry-cleaning headaches." He raised an eyebrow. "Why, were you planning on actually returning this one to me?" A snort of incredibility was the reply. "Of course not. But it's nice not to worry about getting out blood."

Several doctors bustled in then and attempted to kick him out of the room while they ran their tests. Toby didn't want to go. He'd only just gotten Spencer back after nearly permanently losing her but the tests would help Spencer. "I'll be OK Tobes. You can't be in here with the X-ray radiation." She squeezed his hand in reassurance. "It won't be for too long." She tried to hide her wince but it was enough to make him comply with the rules. Spencer's well-being was what was important.

"I'll be right on the other side of that door Spence." He brushed her loose hair away from her face and kissed her forehead.

He meant what he said. As soon as he left the room he planted himself against the opposite wall. There was a window in the door, he could still see everything. If Spencer needed him he would know and be at her side in an instant. He wasn't leaving her again.

* * *

><p>"You're sure Spencer's alright? You're not just saying that to protect me are you? Spencer's not just saying that is she? Because Spencer never tells any one when she's sick. Back in eighth grade she caught the flu and still came to school with a 103 degree temperature because she's Spencer and she didn't want to miss giving her report on something and mess up her perfect attendance. I can't remember what it was but the point is she's going to say she's fine, so you have to force her." Did Hanna really think he didn't know that these girls weren't always upfront when something was wrong?<p>

"Is it possible to force Spencer into anything? I think she's the only person on the planet more stubborn than you or me. And the doctors are checking her out as we speak." His girlfriend took that news with praise that he'd been sensible enough to do that and anger that he'd left the brunette alone.

"Hanna are you saying I should have stayed in the room while your best friend got undressed? Besides I didn't leave her alone. Toby's with her." Hanna immediately relaxed. "Toby's with her? Great! He worries if she's got a headache, he'll make sure she's alright and Spencer will go along with it because she thinks it's cute even though she won't admit it."

Caleb grinned as he listened to Hanna relay the news to the other girls, absently studying the mural on the wall until Hanna remembered he was on the phone again. "Hey, so we're on our way. Should be there in a couple of hours." Caleb just nodded. Why did the hospital crest seem so familiar?

Hanna was in middle of asking where they'd meet when it clicked in his mind. _Shit._ "Hanna do not come here! Do not come to the hospital. I'll explain later." He hung up before Hanna could say anything but he'd apologize later. They needed to get out of here _**now**_!

* * *

><p>Painkillers were a godsend. That was the only reason Spencer wasn't bleeding from biting her lip. Even though she had insisted on taking only a very mild dose of over the counter stuff – possibly committing murder while high tended to scare you straight – it still took the edge off. She had a dislocated shoulder, a gash to the head requiring stitches, a partial black eye, a swollen cheek, a split lip, two cracked ribs and a sprained knee along with heavy bruising and several cuts. She didn't need surgery though the doctors did want to keep her overnight for observation. She'd been lucky. That's what they all kept telling her. She was lucky. Most people usually don't come back from the dead outside a hospital so she was lucky.<p>

And she had died. That was the part that freaked her. **She'd died**. She'd been clinically dead for several minutes.

It wasn't like death was a foreign concept. There had been plenty of times in the past where A had nearly succeeded in killing them. She and her friends had narrowly escaped their own funerals almost too many times to count. Additionally there were the numerous funerals they'd attended over the years of friends and acquaintances. Hell A had killed Mona less than two months ago.

But A had never _**won **_quite like this. A had killed _**her.**_ Spencer had lost her life, albeit temporary, but it had happened and it wasn't exactly something she could afford to lose. Next time A took one of them out they mightn't have a do-over option.

She didn't remember anything. That might be the worse part. She's been prepared for death before, at least she thinks she has. To protect her friends. To defend herself. In those brief moments where she can't care about living.

The reality of it, the aftermath is a lot more jarring and vague. She doesn't know what to expect.

The doctor cleared the room only to be instantly replaced by Toby. True to his word he had stayed right on the other side of the door, not leaving his chosen sentry for a moment. She'd looked for a glimpse whenever the door swung open and was met with a burst of security every time.

Normally she'd huff and inform him that he was her boyfriend not her bodyguard. Right now though his overprotective actions were a comfort at a time she was feeling especially fragile. She felt safe, however meager that actually was, when he was around.

Spencer Hastings was no damsel in distress but she didn't mind playing the part that much when Toby Cavanaugh was her knight in shining armor. She would just never confess to it.

A sliver of tranquility ebbed through her when he smiled softly at her as he examined the doctor's work.

She repeated the doctor's prognosis. Leaving out the inference that he or Caleb were responsible for her state. Spencer had been outraged when it was suggested and at that moment had been grateful neither boy had been in the room. Caleb wasn't the type of guy to hit a girl, except maybe in self-defense. She hadn't been able to even hypothetically imagine Toby doing anything remotely like that. Case in point his touch was even more gentle than usual as one hand traced the bandages on her wrist, the other at her waist to support her weight.

"I'm OK." She let him have his little inspection. His stance made it clear that he wouldn't let anyone hurt her but she could see in his eyes he needed reassurance that he wasn't already too late. "Really Tobes. Just some bumps and bruises."

"You scared me Spence. I thought I'd lost you for a minute. And if that happened…" he trailed off.

"I know." He didn't need to explain anything. She was all too familiar with that kind of trauma. She hooked her fingers through his belt loops tugging him closer. Words only did so much. Physical contact and the bond they shared was needed so much more.

Toby tipped his forehead against hers, brushing his nose against hers. The touch was practically habitual for them at this point but it never failed to leave her breathless and lightheaded in a way she adored. "I love you."

"I love you too." Their lips met in a soft kiss only to be cut short by the entrance of a worked up Caleb.

"We need to get out of here. Now!" He waved his phone in their faces. On screen was some sort of logo. "It's the crest of this hospital." She didn't know what the problem was but by Toby's face he did. "This was on the tape A used on you!"

A jolt of terror hit her. They'd unknowingly fled for help to a place A came and went as they pleased.

Spencer pushed herself off the exam bed. The exertion took more than she thought and for a second her balance wavered. Before she could add crashing to the floor to her list of incidents, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist, steadying her. "Are you sure you can walk?" Toby's blue eyes were brimming with concern. "I can walk. It'll draw less attention than you carrying me anyway." He didn't look convinced but nodded. He didn't unwrap his arms for which she was grateful. While she could walk, stiffly, it was so much easier when she could lean on him. Everything was easier when she could lean on him.

She'd need that very soon.


	7. Chapter 6

**Happy New Year. As I'm away this evening you're getting this chapter this morning instead of tonight as a New Year's pressie.**

**Also heads up, I don't like Ezra and really don't like the way the show suddenly has him BFFs with the whole gang given recent events and their general personalities so as far as I'm concerned Aria loves him (for whatever reason) and the rest of them are only putting up with him for her sake and in case he's useful. It's relevant for this chapter.**

**Enjoy.**

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><p>After being abducted, blindfolded, restrained, assaulted and left for dead, Spencer should have been hyper-alert, on edge and aware of her surroundings. She partly was. Her adrenaline had been on overdrive since before they'd left the hospital. Even outside of Rosewood they weren't safe.<p>

But somehow she'd lost her bearings because she didn't recognize the cabin in front of them.

She blamed Toby. He'd kept an arm around her the entire time they were leaving the hospital. In the car he'd locked her to his side so she wouldn't be accidentally jostled and her injuries exasperated. He'd run a comforting hand through her hair and down her arm. And Toby had always, always been able to make her feel just a little bit better, a little calmer, a little bit safer, and a little more hopeful just by his presence alone, even before he ever said a word. Was it any wonder her mind might drift off?

So when they pulled up in front of a small house in the middle of nowhere she was confused. Before she had time to question it though, the front door opened and Emily, Hanna and Aria spilled out into the night.

She hugged her friends as tightly as they did, glad to see them and waved off their concerns on her health. "I'm fine guys really. I played varsity field hockey for four years. This is nothing compared to that."

Aria laughed. "I remember. What was it, the final in ninth grade? Another girl tackled you and even though you hit the ground so hard we could feel it in the stands you insisted on playing till the end."

"Right," Emily agreed, recalling the day in question as well. "It was only afterwards when the coach saw your hand anyone realized you'd dislocated your finger. And when we took you to the hospital we found out you had a concussion. And you still keep trying to leave so you wouldn't miss the debrief."

"Hey I scored us the winning goal in that match." Spencer was appalled. Didn't they understand that nobody got anywhere by giving up when things got difficult. Quitters.

"And because of that I got voted MVP for the season."

While the others were shaking their heads in affection or tried, unsuccessfully, to hide their grins, Hanna just rolled her eyes. "Yeah and got voted MVP every other season, for everything else too. Can we put down being repeatedly injured and a high pain threshold on our college applications?"

"Sure, but it'll probably result in a psych eval and police questioning. And a polite 'no way in hell' rejection." Spencer walked into the house. She didn't have a lot of desire to stay outside and exposed. "Where are we?"

"My uncle's summer house," Emily replied. "My parents and I try to come visit his family whenever we can and I've come for getaways with my cousins a few times. We were coming to find you guys when Caleb called Hanna. Figured this would be the best place to regroup since it's late. We can get home early enough tomorrow we're about an hour away from Philly."

"And civilization," Spencer retorted.

Emily shot her a look. "The phone service can be temperamental sometimes but town's only a couple miles away. And we picked up some food. Coffee too."

Spencer immediately brightened. "Em I love you. I can't remember when I last ate."

They had an improvised dinner consisting of an assorted mix of foods the girls had bought. Despite legitimately not knowing when she had last eaten Spencer found her stomach revolting at some of the options. Not wanting to add to an already too long list of ailments she just nibbled on some fruit salad as they all caught each other up.

"So a doctor and a cop are on the A-Team?"

"Not necessarily," Spencer corrected. "It could be anyone with access to medical supplies. A nurse or an orderly. Or A could have just posed as a candy striper and stolen them. I definitely saw a police badge though. Rosewood PD."

"Great so we can't trust the cops either. What else is new?" Aria may have been the one to make the sarcastic comment but she captured what everyone was thinking.

"Did you really see two Alisons? Because the one we've had so far has been the trouble of like three." Hanna declared. "And you saw Emily too? Are you sure you didn't have like a serum? You hit your head, maybe you broke your brain."

"No Hanna I didn't have an aneurysm or break my brain." Spencer was only mildly disgruntled at her ridiculous phrasing and quite touched by the concern in the blonde's tone. "I thought I was hallucinating at first, but I know it wasn't Alison or Emily I saw. They were using those masks that that creepy guy made. I was too out of it to realize then but they were trying to confuse me. Make me think I was safe or my friends were against me so I'd talk. Which didn't happen." She blinked a few times and forced her eyes open. The adrenaline had long died down now and the meds in her system were making her drowsy.

Unfortunately she wasn't as discreet as she hoped. "Spence, you need to get some rest. You need a chance to heal and that's not going to happen if you don't relax." Spencer wanted to argue, she really did but the logical side in her brain told her that he was right. Besides the pure concern in Toby's eyes was more than able to quell the independent feminist in her. He was going to end up being the one needing medical attention if he didn't stop stressing about her. She'd let him have his way this time. And though she'd never admit it she needed sleep.

* * *

><p>Even in sleep Spencer couldn't find peace. She had lain down in one of the upstairs bedrooms after only a token argument. But even from the door Toby could see her slumber was fitful. Her fingers were twisted around the blankets and she tossed and turned. Never staying still for long. Everything those monsters had done to her and they still couldn't give her an hour's rest.<p>

Emily's hand touched his shoulder, briefly pulling him from his thoughts. "You should get some rest too, you know. We can watch her for a while. She's not going to stop breathing just because you took your eyes off her for a couple of minutes."

Emily had no idea how close to the truth her words were. Spencer had recounted most of her kidnapping to the other girls but she had omitted her near-successful drowning. He hadn't pushed her on it. The whole ordeal had shook Spencer up more than she wanted to admit. He knew from experience that this wasn't something he should force. Spencer needed to deal with this on her terms. Telling the girls would only scare them and unnerve Spencer even more. Until then all he could do was try to keep her from further harm.

The universe clearly had a twisted sense of humor. The memory she had of finding him in the woods had deeply traumatized her. It still haunted her to this day. Fake or not it had been real to her at the time and was a possible future scenario that terrified her. He could see the horror and pain in her eyes when she used it as a weapon in angry fear, the mournful plea of worry when she was concerned for his safety. Even when she made a simple request to be careful, the image never completely leaving her mind.

Before he'd only been able to feel guilt for ever playing a part in those events that had broken her. He'd hold her and kiss her until she was soothed by his promise that he'd never leave her alone. He'd understood her fear. Been petrified by it himself. But he'd never experienced the searing agony she had. Until today.

It hadn't been a trick. It wasn't fake. He had held Spencer in his arms when she had no heartbeat, no breath, and no life in her. That had been real. It was a pure miracle that it wasn't permanent. How could he risk even a moment.

He shook his head. "I can't leave her Em. After everything that's happened…" Emily shot him a small smile and squeezed his shoulder in sympathy. Before she could say anything though a knock at the door broke the quiet.

Toby tensed along with the others. Who could possibly know where they were?

He gently maneuvered Emily into Spencer's room. If there was a threat either at the door or elsewhere both girls stood a better chance together.

Emily surprisingly heeded his silent request as he hurried down the stairs to join the others. The knocking had become full-on pounding now but a voice could still be heard over the din.

"Ezra!" Before anyone could stop her Aria rushed across the room throwing back the deadbolt and other locks and flinging open the door allowing access to the English teacher.

Only the man wasn't alone. An all-too-familiar blonde trailed behind him.

Aria's face clouded with uncertainty. "What are you doing here?" "I was worried about you. You told me where you were. I wanted to make sure you were ok."

"So you showed up here with Alison because..? What you're little fling wasn't disturbing enough the first time?" Hanna put in bluntly. Fitz looked shocked at Hanna's blunt accusation. "No, I came across Alison back in Rosewood. She ran right out in front of the road. I almost hit her."

"A came after me." Hanna's raspberry confirmed her opinion on Alison's story. "It's true Hanna. Ezra saw it. A's trying to kill me. I'm not A. I'm lucky to still be alive. " Toby wasn't sure about that. From what he could see Alison didn't have much more from her 'encounter' than a red cheek. A usually left more of an impact.

"So why come to us." Toby was shocked at the hostility in Hanna's voice. The blonde was always discernible but he'd never heard her so disdainful before. "Why not go to your new brainwashed robot minions with that sob story."

"Are you really willing to just leave me to fend for myself? Someone's spent the last three years trying to kill me remember!" _And they'd tried to do the same to the rest of them too_.

"Yeah I'm understanding why-"

"You should put ice on that check," Emily chimed in always the peace-maker.

Aria pulled Fitz upstairs to talk as Emily hurried Alison into the kitchen to get ice.

"Do you believe any of that?" Hanna snorted in disbelief at her boyfriend's question and Toby himself raised an eyebrow. "Yeah me neither."

Toby wasn't sure what to think. The girls were sure that Alison was A, but even if she wasn't he didn't trust the blonde not to use them as a human shield to save herself. She'd done it before.

And he didn't trust Ezra Fitz either. Spencer had confessed all to him. Including relapsing because she suspected Fitz of being A, that he had been researching them for years and that he had outted her Adderall addiction to discredit her.

"Aria trusts Fitz," Hanna pointed out.

"Doesn't mean we should. And I don't trust Alison." Caleb was stating the obvious at this point.

"It seems a little convenient that he came across Alison when she was in trouble right as he was coming here to visit Aria." Toby strongly believed in second chances. He wouldn't have Spencer or anyone else in his life if he hadn't gotten one. But the man had used Spencer's pain against her. Toby wasn't going to give the man a chance to repeat it.

"That girl seems to have a knack for finding 'help' right when she needs it." Caleb might have only meet the infamous blonde in the last few weeks but he'd gotten her true colors quicker than most.

But they didn't have a chance to debate it further.

Right at that moment a scream rang out.


	8. Chapter 7

**So there was a slightly longer break than usual between updates but this chapter is one of the longest to make up for it and it has some Spoby fluff too**

**Also special shout-out to caitycaites for her awesome reviews and for being the one to guess closest to the truth so far.**

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><p><em>There couldn't be a better feeling in the world than this. It simply wasn't possible. Spencer hummed in satisfaction as Toby's lips moved down her neck along her collarbone and across her stomach. It was moments like this that made everything else in her life seem bearable. If she could feel like this, like she was loved, the most precious thing in the universe then nothing seemed so bad anymore.<em>

"_You're beautiful." She wasn't used to compliments but somehow he could make them seem like simple facts. _

_She yanked irritably at his shirt. "You're wearing too many clothes." She felt more than heard his laugh resonate through her. She loved being so close to him they may as well be one person. _

_A sound echoed from downstairs. "Ignore it." Spencer murmured in agreement. Whatever it was could wait._

_She pulled the obstructive shirt off and gently tugged his lips back to hers. Her hands roamed over his addicting six-pack, his strong arms, and the muscles in his back wandering down to meet his jeans. A leg hooked around his wanting him as close as possible. In return his hand ghosted over her bra as he pushed her open blouse down her arm to press his lips against the skin underneath._

_There it was again. The mystery noise. Only this time it was closer. Too close to ignore now. Spencer pushed Toby back as she sat up, an ominous feeling washed over her as she slid off the bed towards the sound._

_The door swung open of its own accord and Melissa wandered in. It was strange seeing her older sister with such a vacant expression on her face. One Spencer had never seen before. But what was really alarming was the bloody wound at the side of her head. _

"_I killed her." Spencer's breath caught in her throat at the flatness of Melissa's voice. "Because I was protecting you." They locked eyes and Melissa coughed, unable to breathe. "Melissa!" Spencer watched in horror. Her big sister, the person who had been there her whole life, always right, always perfect was suffocating and nothing she did could fix it. _

"_Mom! Dad!" She screamed in desperation at her parents as they entered the room. They had to do something. Melissa was the golden child. She couldn't die._

_But her parents merely watched their daughters in disinterest. Peter's hand rose to his chest before he slumped against the wall. It dimly occurred to her that he was having a heart attack but she couldn't move to help him. Why couldn't she move?_

_Veronica just stared back at her when she met Spencer's panicked gaze. Her hair suddenly started to thin and her skin took on a yellow hue. Spencer stumbled back in despair. Her family were dying right in front of her and she was powerless to prevent it._

_The room she was in wasn't her own any more. Instead it was smaller, dingier. The window was dirty, the curtains faded. The carpet was threadbare and the walls were peeling. The faint odors of cannabis, vomit, bleach and antiseptic were in the stale air. A motel room._

_Empty bottles of booze and pills littered the floor and nightstand, Jason lay on the bed the covers pushed down around him. His face pale, his eyes bloodshot. He had overdosed. She was aware of Toby's hand on her shoulder but she couldn't process anything right now._

_She'd lost the last blood connection she had._

_The room went dark and now she was standing in a graveyard, surrounded by fresh graves. She yelled in fright as Ian Thomas' corpse fell from a tree beside her, swinging from a rope. Mona's bloody body was slumped underneath, eyes open, staring, empty. Noel Khan was skewered to the trunk on the other side by his head. A gravestone beside him read Bethany Young. Another one said Lucas Grottesman. Tombstones as far as the eye could see all bearing familiar names._

_But that wasn't the worst part. The graveyard didn't just contain her relatives and acquaintances. It was filled with her friends and their families. Everyone she loved was here. _

_Hanna's broken form lay a few yards away. Caleb beside her with a bloody gunshot in the gut. To her right was Emily the unusual color of her skin indicating poison. Paige drowned and Fitz burnt. Aria was straight ahead, wrists slashed._

"_Brutal isn't it." The now familiar yellow top was back, perfect fit. Every strand of long blonde hair immaculate. Expertly made up face displayed in a signature smirk._

_Alison surveyed the carnage surrounding them. "It's like some tragic masterpiece."_

_Rage mixed with the petrification. Spencer could barely see through her tears as she charged forward but she didn't care. "Was that all this was to you Ali? A play. We're just you're puppets here to entertain you right? That's all we ever were!" _

_Alison just looked bored. She stood in the mass grave of pretty much everyone they knew, all of whom had been violently murdered and Spencer's grief and devastation had all of zero impact. "You're still not getting it Spence. I'm not the enemy. I'm not responsible for this."_

_Alison coughed blood slipping down her lips. Spencer's eyes widened at the axe prodding through the other girl's chest. The axe suddenly retracted and Alison collapsed to the ground. Standing in her place now was… another Alison? _

"_You are!" _

_Spencer staggered a few steps back from Alison/ Redcoat. She couldn't be her. She couldn't do this. Her hand reached behind her, searching blindly for safety. A vague feeling of gratitude sparked through her as she felt a solid form at her back. She had one thing left. _

_She clutched at the strong arm that gripped her as she shakily turned, needing that strength and safety now. Only it wasn't Toby's apprehensive and caring blue eyes she found. Instead Spencer's frantic regard was met with a black hoodie and an empty void. It was A she was clinging to instead of her loving boyfriend. _

_Spencer felt herself go numb at the realization. If A was with her than Toby…_

_Sensing her torment A shifted to face the nearby clearing. As if by another's will she felt herself do the same. _

_A silent scream tore from her throat._

_The tattoo, the totaled motorbike. The clearing in the woods. Spencer was thrown right back to what before had been understatedly the worst night of her life. Only this time she knew it wasn't a trick. This was real. This was _**her**_ Toby. There was no helmet needed to fool her this time._

_The throbbing pain in her chest was so strong she was sure they'd actually ripped her heart out. Her knees had given out and it was only the iron-clad hold on her arm that kept her upright._

"_You can't stop it Spencer." Alison almost looked sympathetic. "How can you stop something that can't be stopped? Can't ever be escaped."_

_A used her free hand to pull its hood back and Spencer was staring at her own self. The A-Spencer smiled knowingly. "How can you fight something that exists in your mind?"_

_Spencer watched weakly as A-Spencer and Redcoat-Alison exchanged looks. She didn't care what they did now. What more could they do. Spencer pulled herself loose and let herself crumple to the ground. She heard screams, yells and shouts. From her torturers, from her friends before they died. From herself. She didn't pay attention she just stared at the mud slowly creeping over her hands. _

_But they wouldn't just live her there to fade away with her loved ones. They didn't seem to think she was broken enough yet. No instead they were taking her away. They were going to leave for somewhere that wasn't here. Wasn't here with the people she loved. The people she had failed. The people who called to her now to stay. _

_She fought against the hands that pulled at her refusing to allow them that final victory. They were going to kill her and they were going to kill her here dammit._

_She could hear the voices. They were stronger now, she pulled harder against the hands and …_

Suddenly she was somewhere else. She wasn't in the graveyard. Had her captors succeeded?

Again hands rested on her wrists, taking advantage of her confused hesitation to trap her. But these arms were warm and strong and pulled her against something solid with a familiar scent that for some reason made her feel calmer.

She didn't know where she was or what had happened. She couldn't even remember her own name. Her vision was impaired to the point of fully gone. Her chest ached with every ragged breath and her throat was raw. Her ears throbbed, her head was pounding and she had no one.

But none of that mattered because she was OK. Wherever she was, was nice and better than anywhere else she could be. She'd stay here. Whatever happened, happened. She was fine here. Here with smells she couldn't identify and yet inexplicably made her feel safe and happy. Rumbling that vibrated to her and seemed like a pleasant sensation. She'd try it. Match her breathing to the pulses. It didn't stop the heaving or the pain in her heart but it made her feel better. A little less suffocated.

And that other sensation, the one that seemed to move from her head down her back and up again. She liked that too. It soothed her, gave her serenity.

She liked this not-quite-strange place. She didn't want to know where she was, she just wanted to know if she could stay here. Just live out her life like this. Numb and weightless and just being.

Maybe this was what death was.

She felt herself being shifted but she didn't care enough to do anything about it. So what if all that remained was blankness. She let her head be gently guided back and up. Lazily she opened her eyes and was meet with blue she'd never thought she'd see again.

"Am I dead?" She wasn't sure if the question was choked out aloud or just echoing in her head. She wasn't sure of anything.

Toby's eyes widened. "No! Spencer why would you think that?"

She'd seen it. Toby had died because of her. He had died in a graveyard with their friends because of her. If he was with her here than that meant she was dead. Except that theory was erroneous. She had made too many mistakes, committed too many sins for her to be anything other than cast into the pits of hell. And Toby had been bound for heaven since birth.

Emily kindly offered her a bottle of water but Spencer could only gaze at her in bewilderment. She was alive too? But she'd seen Emily's body with the rest, and yet Emily was standing in front of her worried but otherwise unharmed.

Curious she turned towards the rest of the room. Aria and Hanna were watching just feet away clutching each other with Caleb hovering just over his girlfriend's shoulder. None of them bore the horrific injuries she'd seen just moments ago.

She felt dizzy and light-headed. What was real? The hands were back, guiding her against the solid torso that had helped ground her moments ago. It was only when she wrapped her own arms around the one across her front that she realized she was shaking. "You're not dead. You're all not dead. But I heard screaming and there was fighting and…"

"Spence," Emily gently cut off her stream of words. "The person screaming and fighting was you."

"You were thrashing around like you're life depended on it," Aria added.

She'd been dreaming. The bodies in her room, the graveyard. Alison killing Alison and the A-Spencer. It had had all been a dream. A vivid realistic nightmare. But just a nightmare none the less.

And it had caused her to act hysterical in front of everyone. Awesome. It wasn't like anyone was questioning her mental health before this.

Spencer pulled her knees up to her chest and pressed her face into her hands, ignoring the slight pull of her injuries. "I'm fine guys. It was just a pretty intense dream. Clearly I should not be taking whatever the doctors gave me. I'm fine really."

They didn't seem to believe her given that they were still staring at her like she might freak out again any second. Which bugged the crap out of her. She was supposed to be the strong one, the smart one, the leader. She was the one who didn't give up, who always thought of a plan.

So what if she'd had a tough week what with finding out more Hastings family secrets, being kidnapped, tortured even more so than usual and dying. She'd put herself back together like she always did. If the girls worried about her then they'd panic. She needed to be strong for them. And it would be so much easier if they weren't treating her like she was about to have another breakdown.

Like he always did Toby knows exactly what to say. "Why don't you guys give her a few minutes? It's been even crazier than usual the last few days. We all need to just take a breath and get our heads sorted. We'll meet you downstairs in a while."

Toby's words seem to work and after insisting they'd be just downstairs and to yell if they needed anything they left.

"Thank you for getting them to leave. I appreciate that they're concerned but everyone looking at me like I need to be committed again is worse than my dream."

She felt him brush his lips against her temple. "We're all tense right now. But we're all OK. Your dream was just a dream."

"I know but it felt so real." She knew she shouldn't lean on Toby as much as she did. It wasn't fair to expect him to keep putting her back together. Especially given recent events but she couldn't help it. He was the only one she ever felt comfortable letting herself be that fragile with. Toby didn't judge. He might hurt for her but he never acted like she was weak or disappointing him or failing. He just made things better. "In my dream everyone was dead. First Melissa and my parents in my room and then Jason overdosed in some seedy motel. And I was in a graveyard and you… everyone was dead. And Alison was there, only there was another Alison who killed the first Alison. And…" she swallowed. This was the worst part. "And I was there and I was me and I was A too but I think it was me. Or at least another me. And I did it. I killed everyone or I was responsible for it anyway."

"It was just a dream."

"I don't think so. I think it means something. Like my mind is trying to tell me something." That had to be why the dream had resonated so clearly and why it still lingered.

"Even when you're unconscious from prescription drugs you still can't turn that brain of yours off can you." His look of affection warmed her soul and helped wash away some of the remaining images.

"There are studies showing that the unconscious parts of our minds can process things twenty times faster than our conscious and that dreams often help us deal with events that we're unprepared for or unsure about. In this case my brain seems to be telling me I have an evil psychotic twin who's going to kill us all."

"Considering that we live in Rosewood there's a mild possibility of that happening." Spencer swotted him not appreciating his glib comment. "I'm being serious Toby. Something bad is going to happen. I just know it."

He carefully lifted her onto his lap and smoothed her hair back from her face before he answered her. "Something bad probably will happen. You're being stalked by a monster who's doing a pretty thorough job of making your life hell. But I promise that I will do everything I can to protect you. We'll get through this Spence. Together. _**Nothing**_ will ever make me leave you alone."

He wasn't just talking about A now. "I broke up with you because I was trying to protect you. You're a cop now and having a girlfriend who's a murder suspect isn't exactly great for any career advancement."

Toby sighed and shook his head in resignation. "Since when has Rosewood approval mattered to either of us?" He nudged his forehead against hers and nuzzled her nose. "I know why you broke-up with me. I think this is the first time we've actually understood each other's intentions. I get it. What I don't get is how someone who's probably the smartest person in the world can't seem to grasp one simple concept."

She pulled away in offense. "Hey I understand plenty."

Toby didn't bat an eye at her statement only adjusting his hold to support her shift in balance. "You're missing the point Spencer. I love you and that's never going to change. I don't care what anyone says or does or thinks. I want you. _**You**_ make me happy. My life has had a lot more bad than good but despite you're determination to believe otherwise you're only responsible for the good."

"Right," Spencer muttered sarcastically. "Which is why I regularly make you leave town to get away from me and why A's nearly murdered you on multiple occasions."

"Spencer, I never want to get away from you I just need to clear my head sometimes. That will never translate to me wanting to leave you." She wasn't convinced she wasn't ruining his life. Toby rolled his eyes. "Fine I'll put it another way. It's _**my **_choice. If I want to risk my life for you and get involved with stopping A than it's my decision. If I told you to stay away from me because it put you in danger…"

"…I'd call you an idiot and kick your ass for it." She got his point. A part of her even fell more in love with him for being so determined to fight for her. He was the only one who never gave up on her. "Toby I can't lose you."

"And I can't lose _**you**_. But pushing each other away doesn't help either of us so how about we agree to suffer together instead of alone."

"I think you're spending too much time with me. You starting to sound like me," Spencer teased. "We seem to keep having the same argument." She sighed before her lips twisted into a tempting smile and her eyes darkened with desire. "Although as much as I hate the break-ups, the make-up part is usually almost worth it." She pressed her lips against his, winding her arms around his neck as he didn't hesitate to meet her unspoken request. She'd missed this, missed him. No matter what lies or silence wove around them they always had this. Their feelings were expressed honest and clear in kisses and touches when they couldn't use words.

Toby pulled back reluctantly after a few moments. "You should get some more sleep. You barely got an hour."

"What about you?" She cradled his face taking note of the exhaustion in his eyes that she had missed before now. "When was the last time you slept?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I've been preoccupied with finding this amazing girl you see."

Poor thing. He probably hadn't slept at all since he found out she was missing. If it had been the other way around, if he had been the one missing she wouldn't have able been to rest until she knew he was OK for herself. "Well since you went to all that effort to find her and then got stuck with me how about I make you stay for a power nap too huh?"

She didn't need to ask twice. He lay them both down under the covers and she immediately plastered herself to his side, drowsiness hitting as soon as her head met the pillow. "I love you."

She only had pleasant dreams then.

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><p>Spencer was still sleeping when Toby awoke. She was literally lying on top of him her dark hair fanning out over his arm and across the pillow and her arm wrapped around his waist. Toby was willing to give anything to stay like this.<p>

He gently brushed a lock of hair back from her face as he watched her chest rise and fall with every breath she took. He couldn't stop himself from watching her. It was so rare to see Spencer relaxed and peaceful. After the events of the last week she deserved every second she got.

She didn't get very many however because Spencer chose that moment to wake up. "Hi," the drowsy rasp that he loved to hear in her voice. "How long was I out?" A quick glance at the clock told them that only forty minutes had passed since the start of their nap.

"How are you feeling?" "Better." Spencer seemed more inclined to snuggle closer against him than move away. Not that he had any problem with that. "Were Alison and Fitz really here earlier?" "Yeah." He quickly repeated what the two newcomers had told him. "Humph" Spencer clearly wasn't buying that story any more than he was. "I guess it's back to reality again."

Spencer rolled her eyes with her usual feminist response when he helped her up. But she kept a hold of his hand and wound her free arm around his, leaning against him. It was something she did when she was feeling especially pensive and vulnerable. She was still shaken up. He squeezed her hand in reassurance as they left the bubble of solitude the bedroom had given them and almost collided with Aria and Ezra Fitz in the hallway. Spencer immediately stiffening and side-eyeing her teacher.

Toby could see the wheels turning in her head. Aria loved Fitz. Spencer cared about Aria's happiness. Fitz had been spying on them and using them for years, betraying their trust. But he might have something that could help them. If he hurt Aria again he was a dead man.

"So you happened to find Alison right as you were looking for us?" Toby had to turn his head to hide his smile at the older man's cornered expression while Aria hissed at her. It didn't matter how thorough you were and how good your research was, Spencer was unstoppable when she decided to argue. "Seems really convenient."

"Aria called me earlier to let me know what was going on and she gave me the address. I wasn't looking for Alison. But I found her in trouble and couldn't just leave her there. I was worried. A doesn't play around."

"I'm well aware of what A is capable of." Spencer's voice was steady but there was no missing the steel edge lying just underneath the steady tone. "But I guess you learned the same things I have while you were carrying out your research for your 'book', recording our lives, investigating us, reading our files, and generally invading our privacy."

"Spencer!" Aria jumped in when her boyfriend flummoxed. And while Toby loved seeing Spencer defeat obstacles in her path (and he'd admit that his girlfriend was hot when she was worked up), this discussion was going to put a wedge between the two girls. And that would hurt Spencer.

"It's the truth Aria!" Spencer was obviously still on edge and the hurt of the betrayal by yet another person she had confided in had been reopened. Spencer didn't give her trust easily. "And if you can't see the giant neon warning signs then you're blind. He was obsessed with her enough to use you. And then he shows up with Alison right after I get away from A. Either Alison's playing him and used him to get to us. Or he's happy to go right along with her."

"I'm not going along with Alison with anything," Ezra protested. "What was that?"

Toby frowned he'd heard it too. It sounded almost like an engine.

Loud music blared from outside. Spencer was racing down the stairs in a moment. Toby made sure to stay half a step behind her to ensure that she didn't trip,even if she did yell at him about it.

They found the others in the living room staring at the front door like it might explode. "What happened?"

"We don't know," Emily's voice couldn't hide its tremor. "One minute we were talking and then we heard this noise…"

"A found us didn't they." No one answered Hanna. No one needed to.

"Come on," Toby ordered as he headed for the door. There was no way he was putting Spencer in harm's way any more than she already was. Given A's recent track record they were in as much danger inside as they were out. Besides there was no way his girlfriend was going to just sit quietly in a corner and wait for help.

They filed outside to inspect the sound, self-preservation keeping them close together.

Fitz's car was the source of the noise. Its doors were wide open, lights on, the radio playing at full volume.

"Does any feel one like we're being watched?" The note of hysteria in Alison's voice could have been genuine as easily as it could have been faked. "We're definitely being watched," Spencer agreed darkly.

"Guys!" Hanna pointed to the tree line to the left of the house. There, carefully arranged on the ground were five rag-dolls. Perfect likenesses to the five girls present. "A left us new Chucky dolls." Toby didn't blame her for being angry or scared. He was familiar with A's methods. The dolls meant bad news.

The girls eyed the five dolls. None of them wanted to be near them given past experience. "They're just dolls!" Spencer snapped and stalked forward to snatch them up and hand them to their respective counterparts. "Although I'm a whole lot more appreciative now that I got a science kit and the Oxford Encyclopedia set for Christmas when I was seven instead of Raggedy Ann."

"You're parents got you Encyclopedias for Christmas when you were seven?"

"No they took me to see the Nutcracker in Philly because some client was sponsoring it. My aunt gave me the Encyclopedias. Which were actually really cool, one gave me these really great ideas for the science kit. Like I was able to test Newton's first law with a penny, and I built a rocket and a glider and – "

"Spencer!" While Spencer's joy at briefly reliving a pleasant time in her childhood was adorable, Emily's exasperation was understandable. "Evil possessed dolls left by A."

"Who wants to go first?" Nobody volunteered. Spencer was meticulously studying the ground and her doll for clues while the rest of the girls looked like they'd happily toss the things into the nearest bonfire.

"I'll go," Emily decided. She'd hit the point of anger outweighing fear_. "You'll always be looking up to people because they'll always let you down."_ The phrase was definitely creepier when heard in a high-pitched childish voice. However as A's threats went it was less lethal than most.

"_Hefty Hanna's the epitome of a dumb blonde. If her mouth isn't filled with something she can't keep it closed."_ Hanna wasn't thrilled by the words but it was Aria's doll that upset her more. "_Miss Aria you're a killer, not Ezra's wife."_

"Mona said that once. Back when she at Radley. When she gave us that clue about Maya's website." Hanna was in tears and Aria was equally shaken, reminded not only of the girl whose life was most recently ended but also of the girl she herself had unintentionally killed.

"_You can run all you want but I'm the one you can never hide from." _Alison glanced cautiously around, guarded as always.

But Toby forgot about the troublesome blonde the moment he heard Spencer's doll. It turned his blood to ice. "_The Hastings bury their secrets. Now those secrets are going to bury them._" A was directly threatening Spencer.

A branch snapped just a few yards away.

A dark silhouette darted out of the shadows and across the yard.

A split second later a second figure ran past in the opposite direction. "There's two of them!"

"Three!" Spencer corrected Emily spotting a third to the right. More A's appeared in the treeline. They were surrounded.

"Get down!" Toby yelled pulling Spencer and Emily with him as one of the A's threw something at them. Toby grunted in pain as the object hit a tree behind them emitting a loud bang and a flash of light that made his ears ring and his vision blur. The disorientation threw him for a moment. By the time he got his bearings Spencer and the other girls had gotten to their feet and as usual were now following their highly disturbed, highly dangerous stalkers into the dark, remote woods.

Not for the thousandth time in the last several years Toby wished his girlfriend wasn't as fearless as she was and grateful that he was in such good shape as he caught up with her. "Spencer what the hell are you thinking going after A by yourself."

"I can take care of myself Toby."

"You needed extreme medical attention less than twelve hours ago. You should still be in a hospital."

Even in the darkness Spencer's stubborn glare was obvious. "I'm fine."

"Right which is why you're limping."

Spencer twirled back towards him her own sarcastic retort on her lips but before she could voice it they were both knocked to the ground.

"SPENCER!" A grabbed her, wrapping one arm around her waist and the other around her neck hauling her up off the forest floor with a sudden force that knocked her off balance and effectively rendering her unable to find the leverage to fight her attacker off.

_No!_ There was no way Toby was letting A take Spencer again. Not after everything else they'd already put her through. He pushed himself up using his momentum to launch himself at the Hoodie-assailant.

They struggled and Toby had the disadvantage of trying not to injure Spencer more than she already was. But A had the difficulty of trying to fight him off and restrain the brunette who point blank refused to make it easy.

Toby kicked out and caught the back of A's leg, forcing them back and against a tree. A shoved Spencer away and reached out to push Toby off. Now that Toby didn't have to worry about Spencer's safety for the moment he had no reason to hold back. He pressed the other body hard into the tree.

It happened so fast. Someone yelled, Aria or Hanna maybe. The noise alarmed Spencer causing her to turn too quickly and stumble on the uneven ground. Toby let his attention briefly switch from his opponent to the girl who had his heart and A struck. Toby reacted to the movement making sure he ended up between Spencer and A but when he moved back towards the latter A lashed out at him.

His whole left side felt like it had been suddenly lit on fire. He was vaguely aware A was running away but he didn't have the strength to stop them. He could hear Spencer scream as she tried to help him, leaning him against the nearest tree trunk, her hands pressed against his burning side. He could feel blood on his hand, warm and thick against his skin.

That's when comprehension hit. He'd been stabbed.

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><p><strong>It doesn't seem to be a good week for these characters.<strong>

**You know the drill.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Hello again my dear readers. Rather than have you wait to find out what happens to Toby I decided to post this now.**

**Enjoy**

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><p><em>No! No, no, no, no, no. <em> The word kept running through Spencer's head on a loop. This wasn't happening. A couldn't have stabbed Toby. Her boyfriend wasn't bleeding to death. She wasn't going to lose the one person she could always count on because he was defending her from some pathetic disturbed creep. Toby couldn't die because of her.

Hanna ran for the first aid kit as she, Emily and Caleb helped Toby inside. "None of the cars will start," Aria reported breathlessly. A had obviously disabled the cars before using Ezra's as a diversion. They'd already tried phoning for help but there was no cell service and no land-line.

"It's bad huh?" Toby was deathly pale and he was shaky. And he was losing blood. Fast. No matter how much pressure Spencer applied the bleeding wouldn't stop. But she still lied through her teeth.

"You're going to be fine, OK Tobes. The town's not that far. We'll get help and you'll be OK. You just need to hang on a little longer." She nudged her forehead against his. It was something that always gave her hope, made her believe everything might be OK. She's not sure if the reassurance is for Toby or herself.

Toby wasn't fooled though. He could always sense when she wasn't OK. He knew when she was hiding something even if he didn't know what. Or maybe he could feel it himself. "Spencer."

"I can't stop the bleeding. I've slowed it down, but it's not enough. I think the knife nicked an artery. At the current rate, you'll bleed out before an ambulance gets here." She can barely choke the admission out. She's not even sure anyone can understand what she says because she's sobbing so hard. The silence in the house is unmistakable. Spencer can hear Emily's own muffled weeping and vaguely see Caleb and Hanna and Aria look despairingly on. Spencer can't bear to look at any of them. She concentrates instead on the towels that she's pressing to the wound. They've turned completely red already and she grabs another set. Toby weakly rubs her back and kisses her shoulder and Spencer wants to scream. He's dying and _**he's**_ comforting _**her**_.

"We could operate ourselves." Alison's suggestion hangs in the air. "I've done it before. Couldn't exactly walk into to a hospital in the two years I was supposed to be dead."

"What no." Fitz is horrified and voices his opinion first. "Nobody here has medical training. We can't just perform surgery! You'd probably kill him!"

Alison shrugs like she's bored with the situation and couldn't care less about the outcome."Fine don't do the surgery. Wait." Alison turned her gaze from the English teacher to her and Toby. "But he's probably not going to make it either way."

It takes all of Spencer's self-restraint not to throttle her. As strong as the urge is and as loudly as Caleb and Hanna argue and Emily pleads, Alison is right. Spencer hates it but her own rationality has reached the same conclusion.

Toby's eyes find hers. He wants her opinion. He's trusting her judgement. "It's our best shot. It's our only shot."

She forces herself to calm down and push all of her fear and pain down. She has to lock it away in a box in her mind and make sure it will stay there until this over. She needs the Hastings determination and focus for this. She doesn't trust anyone else - and certainly not Alison – to do this. She's about to operate on her boyfriend and if she has any chance of saving him instead of accidentally killing him, she needs a clear head and steady hands.

Hanna, Emily, Aria, and a still vehemently-protesting Ezra have gone to get help. Different directions to increase their chances. Alison and Caleb are gathering supplies, having 'volunteered' to assist her.

"Spencer," Toby's voice is weak, but his tone still has power. "Whatever happens none of it is your fault."

"You shouldn't be talking. And you're going to be fine, OK. I have Red Cross Advanced First Aid Certification. I was first in the course." The smile that's a cross between pride, affection and amusement and only for her appeared on his face.

"Of course you did. I should never have doubted."

"You're crazy for letting me do this." There's so much more she wants to say. So many important things that she should say. But if she lets herself go there, lets those words free she'll be a sobbing wreck. So she settles for these words instead. "You're certifiably crazy and stupid! For everything! For listening to me. To Alison! Letting us operate on you. Getting yourself stabbed in the first place! Letting me anywhere near you." She'd mumbled the last part, glancing away. They were verging near the forbidden zone.

Toby tugged on her hand until she looked at him. "I have no regrets when it comes to you Spencer. I wish A never existed. I wish I could have stopped the bad stuff in our lives. But I'd go through it all over again it in a second if the alternative was not knowing you at all."

"That just proves you need help."

"Nope. See meeting you has been awesome. I mean I kicked your ass at Scrabble. How many people can say they can beat Spencer Hastings at Scrabble?"

"You did not '_kick my ass'_," Spencer interjected, laughing despite the circumstances.

"My French's improved. Je m'appelle Toby. Tu est tres jolie."

"I really hope you remember more of what I thought you than just bad pick-up lines."

"Isn't speaking French supposed to impress girls? Right you aren't most girls. Much higher standards. I should say it in Elvish or Ancient Greek right." Spencer wasn't sure whether to hit him or kiss him. The idiot was bleeding to death and he was more interested in flirting with her. She couldn't lose him.

He was only half-lucid and still saw her pain and put her first. "I love you so, so much. I trust you and whatever happens remember that you'll never be alone. No matter how much it seems like you are."

"I'm holding you to that. And I love you too."

"Kiss me." She willingly obliged his request. When she pulled away Caleb and Alison appeared, makeshift surgical equipment in hand. Spencer was relieved to see that Toby was almost completely out of it. She knew what was coming and she really didn't want him to be awake considering the agony she was about to put him through.

Alison handed her a cloth but instead of taking it she grabbed the blonde's arm. "Just so we're clear Ali, if you do anything - hit something, pass me the wrong thing, if you breathe at the wrong moment – I don't care what it is but if you do anything to hurt Toby I will make everything A has done seem like Disneyland compared to what I'll do to you. Got it?" Alison's cool gaze never left Spencer's as she issued her promise.

"I got it Spence, now are _**you**_ going to do something or are we just going to stand here and watch Toby bleed to death?"

It was harder than she thought. There was so much blood and their light wasn't exactly suitable. Toby passed out almost immediately and Spencer tried not to think about how still and pale he was.

Instead she put all her attention on stopping the bleeding. Caleb moved Toby to help her get a better angle while Alison handed her a needle and thread and adjusted the light.

Spencer bit her lip in concentration as she carefully sewed up what appeared to be the source. Blood still flowed but not as fast as it had been. Spencer couldn't expel the thoughts in her head. '_What if I hit something else? What if I missed something? What if Toby got an infection?' _

Even though it was the first time ever she'd been grateful to hear sirens her terror didn't dissipate.

'_What if it we are already too late?'_

* * *

><p>Caleb handed a cup of coffee to his girlfriend as he surveyed the room. Fitz and Aria were comforting each other, Emily and Alison were talking quietly. Hanna alternated between flicking through the various magazines, complaining and watching Spencer in concern. Just as she'd spent the last three plus hours doing since the ambulance she and Emily had managed to call from a farmhouse had dropped them here.<p>

"If Toby dies, I'll kill him myself!" Caleb didn't bother commenting on the paradox in his girlfriend's threat. He knew what Hanna was really upset about. "How is Spencer doing?"

Hanna looked at him like he was crazy. "Seriously? Did you miss the Spencer Hastings Horror Show from earlier? People were calling for ambulances to take them **away** from the ER. The doctors needed doctors. The security guards were ready to call 911."

She had a point. Caleb had always heard about the Hastings family being intimidating. He'd heard plenty of his classmates, the girls included, refer to Spencer as 'scary', 'unapproachable' and 'intense'. He knew the girl well enough to know not to cross her but he'd never been intimidated by her until tonight. Spencer had lashed out at everyone in the near vicinity. What she'd said had been harsh. True, from what he knew, and even partly insightful but her words had been loaded with venom. He hadn't particularly cared that her anger had been directed largely at Fitz and Alison holding them responsible for A finding them but she hadn't pulled her punches with him or the other girls or even the medical staff. They'd all quickly agreed to stay out of the girl's way, letting her take her anxiety out on the floor by her non-stop pacing and pretty much needing a doctor herself thanks to her earlier injuries and stress.

That had been for the first couple of hours. Emily had finally gotten Spencer to accept medical treatment herself by pointing out Toby would worry about her otherwise. It had partly worked. Spencer had allowed a doctor to treat her in the waiting room. Or more accurately she just sat there like a statue and didn't fight them when they examined her. She refused to leave the waiting room or have any tests or take any painkillers or other medication. She just sat there, still, glaring so intensely at the opposite wall that Caleb wouldn't be surprised if it burst into flames any second.

"She's acting like did when she found out Toby was on the A-Team." If he hadn't been sitting right beside her Caleb wouldn't have heard Hanna's whisper. Hanna was watching Spencer without flinching but the fear was written all over her face. "And when she thought Toby died she ended up at Radley." She reached for his hand and Caleb didn't hesitate to give her comfort. "If anything ever happened to you, if I lost you, I'd be crushed. The idea of you getting hurt scares the crap out me and I have trouble breathing.

"But with Spencer it's different. I don't know how to explain. She's always this strong, know-everything, scary, unstoppable person. It's like nothing can get her. But with Toby... She's like an actual girl like the rest of us. And when they're fighting or Toby's out of town or something, Spencer's different again. It's like she needs him and Spencer doesn't need anyone. If she loses Toby, I think we lose her."

What could he say to that? Toby and Spencer were his friends too and they'd both gone to bat for him and Hanna lately. Especially in trying to help him get his head straight after Ravenswood. He didn't want to lose them either, but nothing he said would do anything. He hated this. Caleb was a man of action not words and watching two people he liked and respected – and there were few who made that list – fight for their lives in as many days and not being able to do anything. Caleb felt like he was trapped by that Pact all over again.

"Toby Cavanaugh?" In contrast to the rest of them jumping to their feet instantly, Spencer seems to move in slow motion. She turns her head slightly in acknowledgement before slowly unfolding herself to her feet. It's only after she's slipped between them all that Caleb realizes that they're mostly filled with optimism when Spencer's weighed-down with dread.

"The blood loss was severe and a concern but we were able to repair the lacerated blood vessels. He's reacting well to the transfusion and there is minimal damage to the major organs. With adequate rest and barring complications he should make a full recovery."

"He's going to be OK?" Spencer's liable to collapse from shock and relief any moment. "The operation, what we did, what I did… it didn't hurt him? I didn't kill him? He isn't going to die?"

The plea is soft it can barely be heard but it's enough for the doctor to drop her previous clinical manner and comfort the distraught girl in front of her. "You didn't hurt him. That fix was rudimentary but it bought enough time for him to get here. You saved his life. Would you like to see him?"

Spencer's sprinting down the hallway before any of them can say another word.

* * *

><p>The steady beats of the monitors were reassuring. Like she always is she's drawn to him. His hand is warm and his chest is rising and falling in easy peace. Spencer breathed for what felt like the first time since Toby had been stabbed. It was the most terrifying moment in her life and she'd been thrown right back to the worst time in her life.<p>

Toby was paler than usual and she could see the large white bandages covering his side. The one that had been covered in blood not so long ago. She felt a wave of fresh tears hit her. She'd been so close to losing him. As if sensing her Toby starts to stir. Spencer hurriedly wipes her eyes because the last thing she wants is to stress him out more.

"M mm, is this Heaven?" The sound of his voice has always been able to calm her but this time it's more welcomed than ever even if the words are half-slurred. "Not quite Tobes, you're in a hospital room in Philly. It's a downgrade from the clouds in the sky experience but personally I prefer it to the alternatives." She cups his cheek before running her hand soothingly through his hair. It'll be a while until her mind stops going there. Until then she's going to do everything possible to make sure he's comfortable.

"Hmm I have a gorgeous angel welcoming me. Heaven." His adorable grin is even more endearing by the way he looks at her. Even barely conscious, recovering from anesthesia, and hopped up on morphine he can still make her weak at the knees.

"The pain meds are messing with your brain, Tobes. I've been wearing the same clothes for the last four days straight. I'm covered in dirt and blood. I haven't properly brushed my hair in like a month and I'm not wearing make-up. I haven't slept since god knows when and even I realize my caffeine intake is out-of-whack. I'm anything but attractive right now."

"You're always beautiful," he argued languidly, before noticing the bandage covering her wrist and the other at her temple. "Are you OK? Do you need to see a doctor?"

Thank God Emily was manipulative enough to get her treated. Otherwise Toby would probably insist on dragging himself out of bed to get her looked after. "I'm fine. I saw a doctor."

"So you're OK?"

"I'm fine thanks to you." She swallowed the rest of her sentence. Despite seeing him in a hospital bed several times now she'd never get used to it. She'd never get used to knowing he was in danger because of her. "What were you thinking Toby? Taking on A like that?! You could have died! Why did you do it?!"

"A was going to hurt you. I can't let that happen. I can't let anyone take you away from me or hurt you. Boyfriends don't let that happen." He was always trying to protect her, always willing to do anything for her. It was one of the reasons she loved him, one of the reasons she trusted him but it scared the crap out of her all the same. "Besides it worked out OK. _**You**_ saved my life." He said it completely sincerely. He was genuinely proud and trusting like she had actually saved his life instead of just managing not to kill him.

"Yeah well I owed you one. You know my competitive nature. I needed to even the score."

He lazily reached out his hand to squeeze hers. "You win. You always win."

"How'd you come up with that math? You saved me from drowning, I tried not to kill you when you got stabbed. Not to mention the number of times you've been nearly killed thanks to me. Not exactly a blazing victory."

"You still win. You'll always win. You save me every day, just by being you. Since the day you showed up on my porch."

She had to blink back her tears. They always had the same argument, because they both so passionately felt the same way. There was some messed up irony right there. "We're still even Toby. You save me every day too."

He grinned drowsily. The meds were pulling him back under. But at least she knew he was OK now. "Go back to sleep Tobes. You need the rest."

He tugged her closer and she came willingly not wanting him to exacerbate his injury. "Stay."

"I'll be here when you wake up." They'd have to physically haul her from the room.

Toby shook his head and wrapped his arm and her waist. "No. Sleep with me." Spencer smirked at his terminology even though she knew he meant literally as opposed to the other connotations. "You were stabbed. You need to rest Tobes. And to let the medication do its job."

"You're better than any medication and you need rest too."

She was scared of hurting him or dislodging something and injuring him all over again but she couldn't deny his request. Especially since she wanted the exact same thing. She hurried around to the other side of his bed, the non-stabbed side and carefully lay down. She had planned to stay as close to the edge as possible but Toby wouldn't let her. She felt him drift off as soon as his arm wrapped around her.

Spencer glanced at the heart monitor again, watching the steady line that showed his heartbeat. She let that and Toby's warm breath lull her to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>I thought I'd give you guys a nice cliffhanger because the next few chapters are going to get pretty crazy with reveals so any last minute theories, here's your chance.<strong>


	10. Chapter 9

**I've gotten over 50 reviews for this story. Woohoo. Thanks to everyone who helped make that happen.**

**We're heading into the final stretch of chapters now. Spencer's putting the pieces together and all will revealed over the next couple of chapters so enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Emily felt exhausted. It had hit her all at once she'd been tense and on edge after the events of the night. But it was only now that she could relax somewhat that the tiredness was felt. Looking around her friends were in the same boat. Hanna and Caleb appeared to be sleeping on each other. Aria was using Ezra's jacket as a pillow and Ali was curled up on a couple of seats. Spencer was still with Toby and none of them wanted to disturb the couple.<p>

The waiting room was fairly empty and it was nearing sunrise at this point. She rested her coffee on the table beside her and let her eyes close.

"EMILY!" She jerked upright at the sound of her name. Only it wasn't just her name being called it was all of theirs. She saw her own mother and father along with the rest of the girls' parents as they hurried into the waiting room with Holbrook, Tanner and several other uniformed cops in tow.

She gratefully fell into her mom's hug and briefly saw Hanna do the same with Ms Marin who pulled Caleb in too, as Aria disappeared within the rest of the Montgomerys and Alison threw herself against her own father. They were used to horrible days, fears of losing someone and hospital waiting rooms but the toll of the last few days had still taken their toll and her mom's arms and her dad's voice were exactly what she needed right now.

It was when she caught sight of Mrs Hastings interrogating an orderly that she realized the Hastings still didn't know how their daughter was.

"Spencer's OK," she assured them as she extracted herself from her family. "She's with Toby. She was worried about him."

"Is he alright?" Mrs Hastings was concerned. After Spencer's parents had taken the time to actually get to know Toby, they understood they were wrong about him. Well they didn't admit being wrong since Spencer was the only Hastings that had actually ever admitted to be being wrong and only under extreme circumstances, but they'd dropped their disapproval.

"He got stabbed." Emily winced at Hanna's blunt delivery. Their parents' were already freaked. Announcing they were all facing death down regularly wouldn't calm them down. "He's going to be fine."

"How did he get stabbed though?" Mr Montgomery was shocked. "You kids just up and left the police station without anything more than a very vague note. Next thing we know you're at a hospital. Do you know how worried we were?"

"We didn't mean to worry you guys Dad, we were trying to help Spencer and-

"- Spencer's kidnappers attacked us! They're the ones that stabbed Toby. She got free and Toby and Caleb found her." Emily stared in shock as Alison recounted the story to the adults. "We met up at Emily's uncle's place. Mr Fitz gave me a lift to make sure we were alright. They must have followed us there. It was the same the person who kidnapped me! I think they were trying to take me."

Emily could barely keep her expression neutral and she subtlety elbowed Hanna when she openly rolled her eyes. They couldn't tell the truth about Ali's 'kidnapping' without landing themselves in trouble too.

Unfortunately Tanner didn't seem all that willing to believe Alison's story either. "How do you know it's the same person?"

"I just sensed it," Alison insisted. She seemed so sincere, so honest. If Emily didn't know for a fact that she was lying she'd have believed her. "It was the way he was looking at me. And it's so similar. Spencer and I are friends. We're the same age. It was her yard both times."

"But Cyrus Petrillo acted alone by all accounts and you've all stated that there were at least three people who attacked you tonight."

"It wasn't just one of us. He got help!"

"And the ransom for Spencer? No ransom was ever looked for when you disappeared."

"Spencer's family are loaded," Alison couldn't have been blunter about what she meant. "Everyone in _**Pennsylvania**_ knows that."

"Alright you're done interrogating my daughter," Mr DiLaurentis cut in angrily. "She's a victim. Some maniac took her away from her family for two years. She escapes, comes home and tries to move on with her life and you act like she's the criminal. And when you finally catch the son of a bitch, you let him go."

"I believe what Mr DiLaurentis is saying is do your damn jobs and stop harassing our kids." Ms Marin looked out for blood.

"I want to see my daughter. Before anyone questions her." Emily blinked at Mrs Hastings voice. Both of Spencer's parents had been uncharacteristically silent and she'd almost forgotten they were there. Only they hadn't stayed quiet out of a lack of words Emily realised but out of strategy. They'd been listening to everything being said and figuring out how best to use it to their advantage. Mr Hastings expression made her nervous.

"You know what Spencer knows the most so I'll go find her. Let her know you're here." Aria had found an escape. Emily jumped at the opening to flee too. "I'll go too. Make sure Toby's OK."

"Me too" Hanna chimed in as they beat a hasty retreat.

"Now what do we do?" Aria hissed the moment they'd turned a corner out of earshot. "Ali just tied Spencer's kidnapping to hers."

"Yeah and Tanner definitely doesn't buy what Alison's selling." Hanna declared. "She thinks Spencer killed Bethany, we're helping cover it up, Ali's kidnapping was a lie and Spencer faked hers to get out of going to jail. She's not going to rest until we're all in the slammer!"

"Just for the record I call not being the person who tells Spencer that everything she's been through is now all about Alison. Also whoever tells her should probably make sure she's strapped down first."

Emily zoned out of Hanna and Aria's debate on whether letting Spencer actually attack Alison was a good idea or not. Toby was asleep and he looked to be ok. Emily didn't want to lose anyone else, especially someone who meant as much to her as Toby did.

Unfortunately while the window into the room proved Toby's well-being Spencer was noticeably missing from the picture. There was no way any of them were going back to that waiting room and informing both Hastings parents and several law enforcement members that Spencer was missing. Again.

She had to be in the bathroom or gone for coffee. Or A had come back to finish what they started.

"Does Toby wear midnight blue nail polish?"

She loved Hanna she really did. But that didn't stop the urge to want to strangle her sometimes when she was incapable of getting the anvil-sized hints about what was important.

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't wear nail polish at all Hanna."

"Oh then I found Spencer."

When they checked they did indeed find Spencer curled up on Toby's far side, hidden by the young man.

"He gets stabbed, she gets blood all over her and they're still freaking adorable."

"Right because you didn't jump Caleb so quickly after he got shot that a nurse walked in on you two in a medical supply closet."

"Hey it happens in Grey's Anatomy all the time. And seriously how did her manicure last. I'm so going there."

"They do look pretty cute. I'm taking a picture."

"MMmmm who's taking a what?" Spencer murmured, Hanna and Aria's antics waking her. Toby stirred as Spencer did.

"Spencer!" Mrs Hastings rushed into the room and pulled Spencer into a hug, pulling across Toby who had a steadying hold on her waist despite still being groggy. Mr Hastings stayed back slightly but did put his hand on her shoulder. "You gave us a bit of a scare there champ."

Emily exchanged smiles with the other two. Spencer was always so unshakable but she needed her family as much as they did.

"I take it now is a good time to ask questions?"

* * *

><p>He felt like he was on a cloud. Which sort of made sense because he remembered something about angels and heaven and Spencer and the room was all white. But the only other thing he could remember about the white room was Spencer and their friends going for questioning and giving his own statement. And everything came back in one sobering moment.<p>

"When are you going to realize it's not safe to be with her." Toby started as Jenna's voice echoed through the room. Sure enough the girl herself was seated beside the bed. "She's haunted and tainted and she'll bring everyone with her. You included."

This was the third time the dark secrets of Rosewood had put him in the hospital and all three times Jenna had visited with the sole reason of trying to scare him away from Spencer. Jenna was incapable of accepting Spencer in his life. Toby couldn't care less what she thought.

"You know most people usually ask how you are when they visit you in hospital, not try to push their own agenda."

Jenna ignored his caustic sarcasm. "I'm telling you what's best for you Toby. We're family and she brings nothing but trouble. All the Hastings do is use people for their own purposes. Her friends, her family, they'll bring you down. Look at all the pain they've caused, all the pain that's tied to them. There's nothing but tragedy and death in their wake. You can't ever trust a Hastings. You can't ever turn your back on one. Isn't that right Spencer?"

Toby looked up to see his girlfriend in the doorway looking as beautiful as always. She looked gorgeous in flip-flops and sweats. She even looked stunning despite obviously wishing she could shove his stepsister out the window. "Same could be said about you Jenna. Given how many people you've manipulated into doing your dirty work for you."

"I've never been responsible for putting someone in the hospital Spencer. Can you say the same?"

"No," Spencer gritted the admission out and Toby hated that she felt like the other girl had a point. "But I've also never deliberately manipulated circumstances for someone to fall on their sword for me either."

"You've never been willing to take a fall either. Are you really accusing me of ensuring protection when you deliberately claim someone else's?" Jenna smirked and Toby was more alert than he had been in hours. Not even painkillers could make him ignorant about the dangers of having Spencer and Jenna in the same room as each other.

"Did Noel tell you that?" Spencer shot back. The tension was so thick you didn't need a knife he could cut it with his own hand. "After all it was your insurance along with his right?"

"Poor Noel is as wide open as he can be. You painted a target on his back. All your intelligence, all that search for truth and you still can't see what's right in front of you. You're as foolish as ever. You think you have all the answers but you can't keep the common sense to use it right. Instead you just keeping draw attention to yourself, sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. Claiming to act in everyone's best interests but really only looking after your own. You're as bad as Alison."

"Jenna you need to leave. Right now," he ordered. He could see the slight fear in Spencer's eyes. His girlfriend put on a good front but Jenna's words hit a nerve.

"My biggest mistake might be befriending Alison in the first place, but you're the one who's her new BFF. But then they say sociopaths can relate to each other."

"Alison is capable of far worse than I am. I strike to survive, she opts for maximum destruction."

"And we've both made her hit list before," Spencer drawled.

"Guess we'll see who the greater threat is." Jenna remarked.

"I guess we will," Spencer commented before that deductive gleam he loved flitted across her face. "Or we can make this an enemy of my enemy"

"-is still my enemy," Jenna snapped. "You girls haven't been innocent bystanders in everything that's happened to me. Maybe I owe you my life but I also owe you my pain. What I know is _**my**_ insurance. And I'm not giving it up to anyone. Especially a Hastings. You really think we can call a truce and be BFFs. What we'll braid each other's hair and share sleepovers and persevere over the blonde menace and live happily ever after. No thanks, after all that's what got Mona killed."

"Out! Now!" Toby yelled. There was no way he was letting Jenna hang around and say those things to Spencer. Especially when he knew she felt guilty for what happened to the girl.

Jenna stood cane appearing and made her way across the room.

"Who are you more afraid of Jenna? Alison, me or Melissa," Spencer asked out of the blue and the blind girl stopped short in the doorway. Spencer had rattled her. "Don't forget why you're here Spencer. We could easily be in a graveyard."

Spencer watched Jenna go, the gears in her brain working to piece it all together. "She's knows something. Shana and Noel both had Alison's trust. Shana would have given Jenna everything. She could have the key to all this."

"I can try her later. See if I can find out anything." He hated seeing her so worked up like this. The drain it had on her. Being stabbed was nothing in comparison.

Spencer smiled sadly, "We both know she'd never give you anything she thought I could use against her. And she wasn't wrong." They both knew she wasn't talking about Mona's murder or the need for insurance.

And no matter how many times he told her otherwise she'd still blame herself.

"C'mon Spence if you're so convinced that I got stabbed for you, you should at least thank me."

His ploy worked and she let out laugh in tangent with her signature eye roll. "At this point I'm beginning to think you got yourself stabbed on purpose just to get lucky."

"Not on purpose but I'm open to it being an unexpected and pleasant consequence."

Spencer shook her head in reprimand. She was so cute that she was trying to chastise him. It always made him want to rile her up.

"Just so we're clear Toby Cavanaugh, if you ever scare me like that again I'll…. I'll…." She can't finish her threat. Not because she can't think of a suitable punishment. (He's never been scared of Spencer, not the real Spencer, but he knows what she's capable of when she decides to be.) It's her own fear and despair that cut her off. She has yet to fully recover from _**that**_ night, possibly never will. The faintest reminder throws her back, breaks her all over again. It's something that he'll never forgive himself for.

And it's a promise he can never make, not honestly. Because while he will never give up on Spencer Hastings he will give up everything in a heartbeat for her. And she knows that. She'd make the same decision.

Instead he reaches for her. Pulls her against him, hugging her. Spencer hasn't been held enough in her life he thinks.

"What did you mean? When you asked Jenna if she was afraid of Melissa?" He knows there is some connection between their siblings. Both of them have been vocal in their dislike of Alison. Both were sneaky, malicious and devious. And both have been willing to burn the girls.

"I think Melissa's been blackmailing her. Probably with the N.A.T. videos." He can hear the undercurrent of anger in her voice that's always present in relation to those home movies. They're a useful threat but she hates their very existence. People she should have been able to rely on took advantage of them for their own sick fun when they'd been too young and unaware, used them for their own purposes. She resents her ties to the creators. And he knows they pain her because while she and the girls were happily oblivious to the monsters around them, those videos depict just how aware of them he is.

"We know they've been working together. Emily saw them with Shana the day of the lodge fire. Melissa was the black swan. They both have ties to the Club and to Garret and Ian. They were both there the night Ali disappeared. The way Jenna kept talking, she has a problem with my family. Not just me. And the things they both hinted at? It just makes sense that they're plotting together. And if they're a part of whatever's going on or going up against Ali." He felt her shrug. "They'd want as much leverage as they can get. Especially given the secrets they have." The wistful, lost quiver in her voice is indication she still hasn't fully processed Melissa's full involvement in all this. The aloof older sister who barely acknowledged her took a life in an attempt to save her.

"How'd things go with your parents?" He's trying to distract and he's curious. Her family had been concerned about her, had actually shown it. Spencer needed to know that.

"OK. They seemed kinda worried. I'm not used to seeing them like that." He holds her closer as she buries her face in his neck for a moment, pulling herself together. "I told them the same thing I told the cops. They wore masks. Kept me tied up in a basement. I didn't know where. You and Caleb found me, we met up with the girls, and they found us. We ended up here."

It's more or less what he told the cops too. "That's it?"

Her hair dances across his torso as she nods. "Yeah. I left out the A stuff. And the likely cop stuff. We don't have enough evidence on Alison or anyone. If we start pointing fingers now it'll look like we're just making things up again.

"Oh and my dad wants to sue the entire Rosewood Police Department for negligence and incompetence because they were sitting outside our house and still didn't notice me getting kidnapped. And my mom insisted on having me admitted like the doctors requested."

She says the last part so fast and so quietly he barely catches it. But he does and his pulse immediately skyrockets according to the monitor. "You've been admitted?! Why? What's wrong? Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"I'm fine Toby. Really. It's just a precaution because my breathing was slightly off and there's a minor risk of infection. As my lawyer of a mother put it, 'showing physical evidence of the assault and lasting injuries will help get a tougher sentence when this goes to court'. It's appearances."

He's been scrutinizing her carefully. She does seem OK and that certainly sounds like her parents having her admitted to improve the case outcome. "Are you sure you're OK?"

"Positive. And I have a room a couple of doors down but if you want me to stay here so you can monitor my condition that can be arranged. Although I will mention now that Hanna's already informed me that the gang will be here in about an hour with 'hospital survival packs'. Which knowing Hanna will probably be make-up, rom-coms and the latest Cosmo."

"I think you should have the nurses give me pain medication then."

Spencer grinned and he can see that gleam in her eye. One he knows and loves so well. Her voice drops lower and quieter. "They won't be here for an hour. We'll have amuse ourselves until then."

His pulse is spiking for a whole different reason now. "What did you have in mind?"

"I'm sure we can think of something."

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><p>"We're going in circles!" Spencer tossed the files in her hand to the bed in frustration. It had been over a day since Toby had been stabbed and they had gotten nowhere.<p>

"We know the badge you saw belonged to Wilden," Aria reminded her sympathetically. Toby had used his police access to look up the badge number she had seen.

"Which just means CeCe took it off him when she killed him and gave it to Ali or A. So she was involved with A. That still doesn't connect her to anything past what we already know."

A hand lightly kneaded the tense muscles in her lower back and she immediately felt some tension leave. It never ceased to amaze her that no matter how dark things looked he always managed to make things seem just a little brighter.

"I think I found something!" Caleb straightened in his chair and shoved his laptop on the table so that they could see. "Look it's a police report from Wilden's caseload."

"What does it say?"

Spencer scanned the screen, her quick mind and legal background deciphering the report and theorizing its meaning. "It's a report from five years ago from Radley. The cops were called because of a disturbance. A teenage girl attacked a doctor. No charges were filed because the girl was a minor. And the staff and Board of Directors requested they deal with it internally. They never did a follow-up."

"All in the tradition of Rosewood police work."

"Could the girl be Bethany? Another hint to her past."

"And Mrs DiLaurentis covered it up. Like she has before."

Spencer rooted through the evidence in front of her until she pulled out the loose pages that she had found. She flipped through page after page until she found what she was looking for.

"Guys according to this the doctor was Dr Palmer," her eyes widened. It was more connected that they realised "and the girl's name was given as Courtney DiLaurentis!"

The room was silent for a moment as they took this new piece of information in. And then came the questions.

"Alison was seeing Dr Palmer?"

"Mrs D totally bribed Wilden about this right?"

"Do you know it was Alison? Has she got any relatives called Courtney?"

"If it is Alison and she used the name Courtney as an alias then why use her surname. It completely invalidates the point of an alias." Spencer was talking mostly to herself. She kept flipping through the pages. There was something here. It was right in front of her, the key to everything. If she could just make the pieces fit.

"Was this another Ali? You know like Vivian Darkbloom?"

There were two different types of handwriting here. They'd recognized one as Alison but the other was unknown. Spencer stared at the two pages. The writing changed almost mid-word

"Maybe there's another Ali?"

_Two Alisons._

"Hanna we're focusing on real life not movie plots."

"It could be true. It's not like Ali would ever tell us she has an evil twin. Maybe she doesn't know herself."

_Twins._

"We sure the twin is the evil one?"

"See Caleb thinks there could be two Ali's?"

_D.I.D._

_Click_

"Hanna you're a genius!"

"She is!" Aria and Emily looked like she needed a CT. Hanna pumped her fist in the air. "I love it when you say that." The blonde's expression turned from joy to quizzical. "How am I a genius?"

Before Spencer could explain though how Courtney DiLaurentis fit into all this a nurse appeared at the door.

"You need to leave visiting hours are over" Spencer groaned as she recognized the woman. It was the same woman who kept ordering Spencer back to her room every time she caught her in Toby's. He was her boyfriend, she loved him and he'd been stabbed less than 48 hours ago. Of course she was going to stay in his room.

The nurse however had different plans and ushered Spencer out of the room with her friends insisting she and Toby get their own rest while the doctors did their rounds.

She squeezed Toby's hand as she left and caught Aria's eye. As soon as Nurse Ratchet was distracted, they'd meet back up.

It all made sense now.

Spencer went back over the note-book and the files. Instead of frustration and stupidity, everything made sense now and backed up her theory. This was it. The truth about A. Maybe not all of it, some pieces were missing. But the key, the Alisonness of it was all right here in her hands.

"Ah hello Spencer." She jumped, mentally berating herself for turning away from the door, and slipped the book and files behind the dresser. They were so close she couldn't let A destroy what would finally stop them.

"Wren what are you doing here?"

The Englishman gave her a familiar grin. "I heard that you and the Carpenter had been admitted and I wanted to see that you were alright."

"He's a cop now," Spencer corrected. If people were going to refer to Toby solely by his occupation they should be accurate. "And we're both fine thank you." She smiled brightly and hoped he'd take a hint. Wren was charming and fun to spend time with but she no longer trusted him. She hadn't since Radley and realized he was more tied to Rosewood's darkness than he let on.

Wren however felt like chatting. "You don't know who is responsible for such an atrocity do you."

"No clue. I never saw their faces. They were wearing masks. None of us know who they are," as she repeated her earlier statement to the police, something occurred to her. "I thought you were still in England?"

"Yes well, I needed to finish up some paperwork here, visit some old patients and that. Since I was in the neighborhood I thought I'd visit my favorite Hastings while she recuperates." She knew that look he was giving her. "I thought you were in England. _**Living with my sister**_."

Wren looked only slightly abashed at that reminder and Spencer felt slightly annoyed. She'd always liked the attention he'd paid her especially when it was over Melissa. But she knew now what her older sister had done to protect her, however horrible, and that odd, twisted loyalty their family had reared its head. He had destroyed her already-shaky relationship with her family. It had taken her months to earn their respect back and it had hurt Melissa something she did feel guilty for despite all the anger and resentment she had had back then.

More importantly the potential for anything real between them died the moment she fell for Toby. Wren knew all this and yet he still didn't seem to care.

"I realize that might have been something of a shock." Instead of leaving like she wanted he walked towards the bed. She didn't have time for this. She needed to tell the others what she'd found and bring it to the police. "Hearing that Melissa and I had rekindled our relationship. But I want you to know that despite the complicated history we all share I still care very much about you and you're very important to me."

"That's great, Wren." She was sharper than usual but she was willing to say anything to get him to leave. "You should probably tell my parents that. They're due to visit any minute now." Like there was any chance in hell Wren was sticking around to chat to her parents – her father in particular.

She wanted him gone. She wanted to end this nightmare. She wanted to be back with Toby. She wanted Wren to leave because his cologne was giving her a headache. Melissa had bought it for him, she recalled, and it had once given Spencer's rendezvous with him away. She wasn't surprised her sister had been able to figure it out. He wore too much of it.

Just like the A-Team member who had treated her injuries. The one she'd escaped from.

The one who had access to medical supplies.

And as an employee, access to any Radley file he wanted.

Wren was A!

Or at least working with A.

She tried to hide it but he was too close to her. He knew she knew.

Spencer ran for the door but she had barely got off the bed before Wren threw her back on it. She tried to scream but he slammed a hand over her mouth. She fought back but Wren had the advantage of not being on medication and full function of all limbs.

She felt something prick her and seconds later her body went slack of its own accord and her vision blurred and darkened.

"She knows," Wren was talking to someone. "C'mon we don't have much time."

She felt herself moving. Wren was pushing the bed. Someone was walking beside her. Long, blonde hair. Tall. Shiny badge. Police uniform. She got a glimpse of the face. It was one she knew but from where?

The darkness claimed her.

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><p><strong>Let me know what you think.<strong>


	11. Chapter 10

**OK**** so here's the chapter that reveals all including who's A. Shout-out to caitycaites for guessing closest and Emilee Amethyst for second closet. You can all see how it matches up with your own theories, but this is personally what I think could happen in the show.**

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><p><em>No one could know. There was red and yellow in front of her, on the ground. 'Just go back and sleep it off OK'.<em>

She had probably lost at least ten IQ points. That was the first thought that crossed her mind as awareness slowly returned to her. She'd been knocked unconscious, drugged, tortured and oxygen deprived more times in the last week than she had been in the rest of her life. Which was saying something given her life.

The second thing she realized was that at least she hadn't been tied up again.

And the third thing was that she wasn't alone.

Spencer cracked open one eye carefully taking in her surroundings while trying to stay as still as possible. She was lying on an old, bare mattress in a dingy, poorly lit room. Another basement. But this one was much larger. With filing cabinets and furniture and other junk. Not a house, something else.

And every single wall was covered in photos and masks and other memorabilia of Alison, Spencer and their friends. Dolls sitting on every surface. She was in A's lair.

Three figures were huddled together across the room. But even in the dim light Wren's build gave him away as did the accented words she caught now and then. Both blonde women had their backs to her. Wren's accomplice from the hospital still in uniform and someone else who was still to be identified.

She shifted slightly trying to find an escape but not wanting to draw attention. Spread out on the ground only a few feet in front of her was several files, cell phones, a laptop, some video recorders, a camera and an open first aid kit. She inched across the mattress and reached out grabbing a recorder.

"So in going to the hospital to make sure you couldn't be tied to kidnapping, you went and made sure you got tied to kidnapping."

It wasn't a surprise to hear CeCe Drake's voice. What was surprising was that it didn't come from the blonde in the cop outfit.

Spencer slipped the recorder on and hid it in her pocket. Getting them to incriminate themselves on tape would be helpful.

"We needed to know what she had on us. We don't know how much she got from the house!"

"The house that _**you **_let her escape from! And then stuffed up every chance to shut her up since."

She risked reaching out again to the First Aid kit and snagged an Epi-Pen. Not ideal but it might come in useful.

"In case you didn't notice I was outnumbered the other night. And I don't recall you having any success either. Besides she's the one who couldn't drown the girl." Wren gestured angrily at the unknown conspirator.

"Hey I did drown her! You said her medical report said she drowned. I drowned her. It was her fault that she didn't stay that way!" She made it seem like not helpfully dying made Spencer the one at fault.

Her would-be killer stepped into the light for a moment and Spencer finally recognized the face. Meredith Sorenson. The woman Mr Montgomery had had an affair with and then drugged Aria and locked the girls up.

So at least two of her four potential abductors were certifiable lunatics. Terrific.

She needed to grab a cell phone and call for help. The three were still distracted, she just had to reach out and grab one.

The door opened catching the other three's attention and Spencer dropped limp to the mattress.

"What's going on?" She held her breath. She knew that voice.

"The genius doctor here decided a repeat kidnapping was in order." CeCe's voice echoed quietly around the room, harmonized by the footsteps coming towards her.

"No wonder you had trouble getting into medical school." The cutting comment made the hair on her arms rise. Alison was right behind her. "Guess we can cut the theatrics this time round." She kicked the mattress with her foot. "C'mon Spencer it's time to quit playing. Wakey, Wakey. All those questions can finally be asked. Don't you want the truth?""

She knew. She knew Spencer was awake. And if these monsters got their way the only way her loved ones would see her again would be in a casket. She needed time and answers.

She slowly pushed herself up needing time to build up her fortitude for what was to come. Besides if they thought she was more injured than she was they might let their guard down.

'_It's now or never.'_

"Depends who I'm talking to. Are you Alison or Courtney?"

Alison/ Courtney looked impressed. "So you figured it out? If anyone could it would be you Spencer. Congratulations. You're the first to guess. Everyone else who knows were told."

"What about Mona. I doubt you told her."

The smirk said it all. There was all Alison's smug superiority. The look that said she knew something you didn't. The amusement that Spencer could sense but never quite understand. The confidence that no one could topple her.

But there was something else too. Some imperceptible aura of anger, resentment and madness.

This was Courtney.

"Mona wasn't as smart as she thought she was. She had pieces too, some the same as yours, a couple were different. But she had them mixed up. She gave Alison too much credit. And not enough. Jenna was the same. Congrats Spence you beat them both. You cracked the mystery of Alison DiLaurentis and A. What gave me away?"

"'_I'm the one you can never hide from.'"_ the phrasing had been bugging her since the doll had opened its mouth. Now she knew why. "D.I.D. Dissociative Identity Disorder. Two personalities. One body."

Her dreams, the nagging feelings she'd been having, Dr Palmer's notes, Radley. All parts of her brain trying to remind her of the psych books she had poured over after Mona's initial diagnosis. Hanna's twin theory that just helped everything to fit. "Alison doesn't know does she?"

"No she doesn't." Courtney eased herself into one of the rickety chairs like a queen. She was so like Alison. And yet the differences couldn't be missed. It was uncanny. "It's annoying. I keep trying to make her go away but she won't stay gone."

Spencer really didn't know when to help herself sometimes. "You do know killing her will cause some difficulties for you right?"

Courtney rolled her eyes. "Oh please don't see so one-dimensional Spencer. Of course I know I can't kill her. Not physically at least. I want her to want to leave. To realize she has nothing left to cling to. I want her to run. To be so scared that she just goes into hiding."

"You want her to be a memory," Spencer realized. "Something trapped in your mind the way you've been trapped in hers."

"I'm the stronger one," Courtney yelled the chair crashing to the ground behind her as she paced the floor. "I took the abuse and the threats and I ended it. I had no one and I used it to help me. I remember everything! I'm the one that made the hard decisions. I made the deadly strikes. I didn't let emotion hold me back! I am A! I have power over her, over you, over everyone in town, in the entire Eastern United States! I'm in charge but she's the one who everyone looks to. It's pathetic. And I'm done being a by-stander."

Horror crept through her. If Alison knew nothing of the condition then she really didn't know how A could read her mind. It was because A literally could. "Alison's memories. When she's in charge you still remember but she doesn't when you manifest. When she goes to wherever she goes, what does she think happens?"

"She remembers what I want her to remember and then she fills in the blanks." Courtney spared her a cool look. "When you're as pathological a liar as Alison things happen the way you said they did. Any other version is the sham."

"That's how she passed the polygraph," Spencer theorized. "She'd convinced herself what she was saying was true so she convinced the polygraph too. What happened that night? You didn't hit Alison but someone did. It was on her medical exam. Did the same person hit Bethany? What happened? Who was responsible?"

"Were you responsible?" Courtney sneered raising one delicate eyebrow, lowering herself back to the chair. "That's what you want to know right?

"Boy you were out of it that night. Completely off your head and way pissed off at anyone who came near. Particularly blondes in yellow tops. You were capable of anything then." Courtney smirked as dread flowed through Spencer. Did that mean she had attacked someone that night? Was she ultimately responsible for the death of an innocent girl?

"It wasn't you." Spencer started at Courtney's sudden interruption into the silence. "You didn't hit Bethany or me for that matter." Relief hit Spencer so hard that if she hadn't already been sitting down her legs would have given out. As it was she still felt herself sag against the wall behind her. She'd been carrying that fear with her for so long.

"Alison did it. She was pissed about all the attention that Bethany was getting from Mom. Mom had bought her the yellow top. Alison thought it was a gift. She didn't realize it came in multiple copies for our potential stepsister. A way of getting us to bond. We shared the same taste in clothes therefore we should be friends." So that's why Bethany had been dressed like Alison that night.

"She walked in on your and Alison's little showdown. You'd dropped the pills. Were too busy getting on your hands and knees begging Ali not to rat you out. Your emotional breakdown kept you too preoccupied to notice Bethany arguing with Alison. Went for her actually, the psycho. Alison grabbed the shovel in defense and bang. Dead girl on the ground. You went to sleep it off and brought the shovel with you. Which helped get rid of Alison's DNA and adding yours which pretty much ensures along with everything else that you go down for that too." Courtney said it so cheerfully. Like letting Spencer take the rap for a murder she didn't commit was a favor. "I don't know who buried her though."

"You sure you aren't the homicidal nut-job letting Alison take the fall for you?" Spencer regretted the words as soon as Courtney's foot made contact with her broken ribs.

"You should be thanking me! If it wasn't for me you'd have died in that bell tower."

"Ian. You're the one that killed him."

"It was self-defense. He tried to kill you, Alison pushed him and when I confronted him he came at me. I couldn't have him blabbing all over town that I was actually alive. It would have ruined my plans." Courtney stared at herself in the cracked dusty old mirror. "And I hate having my plans ruined."

"Was that why you killed Mona? Because she was ruining your plans."

"I didn't kill Mona," Courtney glanced behind her to Wren. "He did."

"Unfortunately Mona decided to negate any of the improvements she had made by fixating on proving Alison was A," Wren explained. "Which made things rather difficult for her recovery."

"And for you," Spencer accused. "So you killed Ian, Alison hit Bethany, Wren killed Mona, who tried to kill you or Alison?"

"I may have let my heart overrule my head," Wren confessed. "A flaw of mine I'm afraid. I tend to be too passionate at times, but would any of us get what we wanted without passion?"

"You hit Alison?" Spencer was shocked. Of all the potential suspects in the world Wren had never made her list. It wasn't that Wren knew Ali that surprised her. He was obviously too involved with A not to know the blonde girl. But what motivation did Wren have.

"She lied to me! She told me she was eighteen! If it got out what we had been doing, I'd have been_** finished!**_"

"Cape May. You're the Beach Hottie. The guy Alison thought got her pregnant." She glanced over at CeCe who was watching them warily. What else had the older girl lied about? "She was fifteen!"

"I didn't know about her age," Wren protested but Spencer wasn't interested. Ali had hooked up with half the guys in North America that summer. And as she'd long since realized Wren would flirt with anything female.

"You knew mine and Hanna's." He was worse than Fitz.

"I thought she was eighteen. I thought she was on birth control. She lied to me constantly"

"And that deserved attempted murder!"

"I didn't intend to. I wanted to talk. But I saw what she did. The way she treated people. I thought she was different but Alison was just like the rest of your families."

That got her attention. "The rest of our families?" Wren looked chastised, annoyed at his slip. And Spencer felt a strange certainty. "You didn't meet Ali or Melissa by chance did you? And Mrs DiLaurentis didn't have any reason to protect you. Unless you had something on her."

Wren shot her an abashed smile. "Jessica DiLaurentis has something of a pattern of covering up homicides."

"And you have proof of it," Spencer guessed. "Alison, Bethany." Realization hit her. "Toby's mom. Mrs D knew it was homicide and she staged it as a suicide."

"No need to sound so judgmental Spencer. You're family have helped plenty there too."

"What do you mean by that Courtney?" Spencer swallowed, knowing she wasn't going to like any of the answers she might get. She eyed Wren. "What do you have against our families?"

"My father had schizophrenia. When he was diagnosed my family moved to the States in the hopes of keeping it quiet. He was institutionalized, here, as a matter of fact. He was doing rather well until one day when out of the blue he killed himself."

"Walter Kim." She'd known about the man's existence for only a few days. Mere hours before she'd been kidnapped. But there was no doubt that he was tied to this nightmare of their lives. This had all been set in motion earlier than they realized.

"Yes. We took a case but despite the numerous cock-ups and faults on record, your mother ensured it got thrown out and between the case and the contract your father's office drafted my family were left to pick up the pieces. I ended up taking my mother's name to avoid the stigma."

"My parents did they're jobs. They might not have been right but they weren't at fault."

"They helped cover up evidence," Courtney nonchalantly interjected. "Some teenagers accidentally got high that night at a party – well they claimed their drinks were spiked - and were taken to Radley as a precaution. They happened to be in the surrounding rooms. Could have seen or heard something but your parents made sure that their names never made it near an official record. Otherwise who knows what testimony Ian Thomas, Garrett Reynolds, Jason DiLaurentis and Melissa Hastings might have given."

Melissa had been at Radley that night. That was why her parents had gotten involved. And what the DiLaurentis' had probably used to get them onside.

"I'm sorry for your loss." She meant it. She saw what losing his Mom had done to Toby. If Wren hadn't been as strong as her boyfriend she could understand how that could mess him up. But it didn't excuse his actions.

"If Radley won the case how could you use that against Mrs DiLaurentis? No one would believe it."

"Yes but telling her husband that her affair with my father is what drove him to suicide would put something of a dent in things."

Mrs DiLaurentis certainly had a type. "That's what you blackmailed her with."

"That and the affair she was having with my stepfather and the rather troublesome secret she shared with my stepsister."

"You're Bethany Young's stepbrother! Did you kill Mrs DiLaurentis? Except Toby saw you in London then. You wouldn't have been able to get to Rosewood in time." Timing didn't fit unless... "You switched the pills out. Replaced her blood pressure medication with my dad's."

"I advised it as a suitable means of execution. I didn't actually kill her."

"Alison switched the pills," Courtney admitted. "She was pissed about mom favoring Bethany and then burying her alive. Once the meds kicked in it was just a matter of time and someone to bury the body." Her pointed look at Meredith made that culprit clear.

"If you hate the DiLaurentis family so much then why have anything to do with them. If Alison screwed you, then why get involved with _**her."**_ Spencer scowled at Courtney.

Wren looked perplexed at her question. He didn't understand why she didn't understand. "Alison hurt me. And her mother and brother and father. I have nothing against Courtney. She's been hurt by them too."

He was as insane as Courtney was.

It was four against one and the only reason they were telling her any of this is was because they didn't intend on her repeating it. "Eventually someone will figure this out. Lt. Tanner's already suspicious of Alison. She'll find out about you. And my friends and family won't rest until they know what happened."

Courtney smirked. "Oh Spencer they're going to get answers. See once the cops discover your and Mona's little Thanksgiving field trip, they're going to start putting the pieces together. I mean it all adds up: drug habit; mentally unstable; history of violent behavior; mommy and daddy covering up before cutting you off. Hell you already tried to kill Mona before."

Spencer paled as Courtney's plan materialized. "I was in custody when Mona was killed."

"But surely someone as smart as you, someone who's gotten away with it all for so long, who's had family and friends help her, could think of a way to stage a scene, tamper with evidence to cover herself."

"It won't work –"

"It will for the cops. Especially once they realize that you escaped from the hospital after stealing prescription meds. It just got too much.

"See Spence you're going to be famous. You're going to be the person who beat everyone. You're going to be A. No one could beat you. You snapped, relapsed and took this place with you. Hell you probably thought you could fly."

That had been the scheme all along. It was why she'd been taken. Why evidence had been piling up pointing to her. Spencer wasn't just being set-up for murder, she was being framed for all of it, A the torture, the blackmail, the lies. She was their scapegoat. And they were never going to let her defend herself because they were going to throw her off Radley's roof first.

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><p><strong>Let me know what you think.<strong>


	12. Chapter 11

**So most people seem to like my theory which is good. Thanks for all the reviews. If you have any questions please sign in for your review or PM me so that I can reply. This chapter reveals some more of what's going on so hopefully that'll clear up any lingering questions.**

**Also my knowledge of D.I.D. is based on Wikipedia and Criminal Minds. I think Alison shows some symptoms of an extreme negative case listed but it's just my personal understanding and creative licence. No offense is meant to anyone who might be affected by it.**

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><p>"Is that what happened to Toby's mom? Did someone decide to shut her up?" Spencer's not sure how she managed to ask the question. The words are woefully weak and shaky. The images in her head are equal parts heart-breaking and paralyzing. But she needs to ask them. Now that she knows what they intend for her she needs to stay as far away from the roof as she can. Talking in this dark, disturbing basement is the best she can do for the moment.<p>

Courtney watched her with what Spencer could only be describe as rapacious. "You've a lot in common with her. Guess that mean's Toby has a Norman Bates fetish. I mean the pill-popping and pathetic crazy are obvious but there's other stuff too. She couldn't keep her nose out of other people's business either."

"She found out something. That's why she was killed."

Courtney huffed. "It's their own faults. Hers and Bethany's. Bethany found out about our parents affair and the whiny little bitch couldn't keep her mouth shut. Instead she spilled the beans to Mama Cavanaugh. Well Marion didn't think that it was right and made it clear to Mom exactly what she thought."

"And your Mom pushed her to keep it quiet. And had it covered up as a suicide." Spencer fought back tears. Toby had spent years wondering if his mother had willingly left him when he'd been too young to leave. And the truth was she'd lost her life defending another powerless child. Spencer had never meet Marion Cavanaugh but she knew without a doubt that she had shared her son's good heart.

Another thought occurred to her. Courtney had been so sure about what had happened. It was likely a consequence of her pathology or for another reason altogether. "You saw it happen."

"Wrong blonde sweetie." Alison! Alison had known the truth this entire time. She'd known about Spencer's relationship with Toby, she had known they'd been investigating Bethany and Marion's deaths and she never said a word. Spencer's anger deepened when she realized the extent of Alison's guilt. She'd known Toby and Marion's innocence and she'd still slandered the woman and tortured her son.

"Once you're gone the rest will be easy. Everyone knows you're the ringleader. The rest of your little girl group couldn't solve a Scooby Doo episode even with all their brain cells. They're mindless drones following you. The hacker might need to be dealt with but he's got all those illegal police files and military software on his laptop. One little anonymous tip-off and it's off to the big house for five to ten."

The girls would figure something out. Or maybe Courtney would leave them alone. Spencer's death would tie up everything. The others didn't know enough to be threats.

"Of course I don't expect your boy-toy to go quietly. Then again he might solve the problem for me. Everyone's going to think his mom and girlfriend offed themselves so he might as well follow their lead. Boy can't think for himself anyway. There's a lot of poetry there for you to appreciate. Nobody else gives a crap about him. And even if he's cleaned himself up he's still the loser freak he always was. Hey I bet we could even throw a party for the –"

**SLAP!**

"Don't talk about him like that." The sting of her palm and Courtney's rapidly swelling cheek only provided a short burst of gratification. Threatening to kill her was one thing but there was no way in hell Spencer was letting that bitch talk about her saint of a boyfriend like that.

Courtney blinked as if she didn't believe that had actually happened. Then she reacted. Spencer barely felt the slap that crossed her own her cheek. It was the jarring to her prior facial injuries that made her head feel like it had been split open with a mallet. That pain was quickly competing with the agony from her injured leg. Courtney sent a brutal kick to her bad knee that sent Spencer crumpling to the mattress. She couldn't stifle her cry as the blonde girl stamped viciously on her ribs. An elbow to her stomach knocked the air from her already deficient lungs.

"We can't give her the drugs if she's dead." CeCe's warning barely cut through the fog in Spencer's brain. The throbbing of everything in her body made it difficult to concentrate. She was vaguely aware of Courtney backing away, pacing angrily.

Spencer had just learnt something very important. Courtney had more explosive mood swings than Alison and her entire family combined.

"I always thought it would go down like this." Courtney's voice broke through the haze. "If I want to get rid of Alison I had to get rid of what tied her here. Her ties to your little clique. She needed you for her power. I get rid of her friends, I get rid of Alison. You know why she picked you four right?"

"I got the lesson from Mona," Spencer coughed. Anytime her lungs regained their function, her throat stopped feeling like sandpaper and the big black dancing spots disappeared from her vision would be fine with her. "The traits to keep a sociopath entertained. Smart, loyal, admiring, compassionate. Me, Emily, Hanna, Aria."

Courtney sniggered. "She got compassionate for Aria. Really? Did Mona actually know Aria, like at all? The only things Aria cares about are Aria's drama, Ezra Fitz and Aria's dramatic relationship with Ezra Fitz that everybody else gives so little crap about that they can't even be bothered to create the scandal of him getting arrested for statutory. Mona isn't as clever as she thought she was. It's so much more nuanced than that."

"Didn't stop Alison from replacing us. You want her friends go harass them and leave us out of it."

"C'mon on Spencer we both know you were never going to walk away from this. Alison didn't replace you. She tried. But they're cheap knock-offs at best and she knows it. They aren't going to help her. Those two loser gayrons are mindless robots, they'll do everything Alison wants but they have no creativity and definitely not the resilience Alison needs. Swimmer Girl's only there for Jenna and Jenna the Jerk's only there for her own self-preservation. She'll take down Alison first chance she gets and Alison knows it. Why do you think she caused 'The Jenna Thing.'?"

"So Alison did it on purpose."

"You already figured out that she did. We both know it wasn't Toby watching you change clothes. At least not then anyway."

"Again how do I know you didn't do it and are just blaming Alison?" Courtney wasn't exactly honest and impartial.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Oh come on now Spencer. I might be A but Alison's the evil, selfish, narcissistic, malicious monster this town thinks she is. Jenna was a threat to her throne and when she didn't accept Alison's offer of friendship she bruised Ali's ego as her as well as digging her own grave. Alison used Ian's hobby to her own benefit." Courtney smirked at Spencer's surprise. "That's right Alison knew about the videos that early on. She thought he was just filming her back then. It was only at Hilton Head she realized his tastes ran broader.

"So she accused Toby in his place and made sure Jenna was inside when the stink bomb hit. Only not a stink bomb. And knowing about Toby and Jenna well she thought he was in on it and she got revenge on both of them. Jenna for challenging her and Toby for dissing her back in middle school."

"What?" Spencer asked in surprise. "What did Toby ever do to Alison?"

"Alison almost had him first Spencer," Courtney mocked. "They almost kissed too. But Toby was too much of a Mamma's Boy. Alison wasn't sympathetic enough to Marion's brand of crazy and he kicked her out. So Alison made sure he was Creepy Freaky Cavanaugh and screwing his stepsister and being a deranged arsonist cemented that. Oh don't be so upset sweetie. She tied you to that night too. When she realized you knew Toby was being blackmailed instead of valiantly offering to cover for Rosewood's Queen Bees she made sure suspicion was in your direction not hers. Another insurance policy."

So that was why Alison had such a vendetta against Toby. Again someone had lashed out at him, imprisoned instead of respecting his right to tell them to fuck off. The familiar shame of that night washed over her. She'd let it happen. She deserved the pointed stares and the whispers. Toby never had.

Spencer leaned back warily against the wall and discretely surveyed her surroundings. Meredith was searching through various items at the far end of the room. She had absolutely no interest in the rest of the basement.

Wren had pulled up a chair to the far side of the alcove. His face was sympathetic but his eyes held a gleam that made Spencer's spine prickle.

CeCe watched from the door. Spencer caught her eye. In that split second Spencer thought she saw an apology before the older girl's expression was neutral again.

She had no chance for escape right now. She needed Courtney to keep talking. "Why did she pick us then? If Mona was wrong."

"Emily was loyal of course. But I'd label her as the compassionate especially since it makes her too naïve and dumb to recognize trouble when she sees it. How many friends and exes have tried to kill her or betrayed her now?" Courtney posed the actual question before immediately losing interest. "Emily saw the good in Alison. Emily loved Alison. If someone as kind and pure as Emily loved Alison than Alison couldn't be a bad person."

It made a strange kind of logic. Spencer knew how redeeming and cherishing it was to be loved by someone who was pure goodness. Alison likely would have wanted the same.

"Hanna did admire Alison, which fed her loyalty. So pretty. The only way to keep her from usurping the popular throne of Ali was to mold her into a loyal sycophant. Hanna would always be second best to Alison. But Hanna looked up to Alison like a little sister would. She was loyal to her. She idolized her. Alison loved that. It made her feel powerful and strong.

"Aria was the admiring one. She admires Alison, she admires herself and she admires that romantic fairy-tale she thinks she lives in. Aria fed Alison's dramatic flair. Since Aria thinks meeting someone at an event you're both planning to attend is fate it suited Alison. Aria makes up stories. Alison makes up stories. Aria can't understand make-believe, just like Alison. Aria's like Alison. They're both starring in their own stories. Aria helped build Alison's great legend.

"And then there was you. You're smart. Smart enough to figure out things that Alison could use but not enough guts to use them yourself. You were the real challenge. So like Alison and so different. You were always destined to be a better Alison, or a worse one.

"You turned down Mona and I was disappointed. I would have made you great Spencer. We'd have been unstoppable. I knew that to beat Alison I'd have to take her friends out of the equation. You're the only one with any actual functioning brain activity so you were always the one to watch and you were always the threat.

"The other three aren't strong enough to keep fighting the cause with you gone. Eventually they'll drift away from this, from Alison, from each other. And when those ties are gone, so is Alison. And then Rosewood will see true immortality."

Courtney waved dismissively at CeCe and Meredith, "go get everything ready." She picked up something from the table and sashayed to the door. "I'd offer you another chance to rethink things Spencer, but we both now you'd never take it. It's a pity you won't be here Spencer but you've made your bed. Wren take care of her."

The scrape of the chair broke the quiet as Wren moved closer to her. He leaned down to examine her injuries but Spencer flinched back. "Don't touch me."

"Spencer I am sorry about how all this turned out."

If he thought she believed that, he clearly thought she'd believe anything. Then again she'd accepted a lot from him before. Cheating on Melissa, the numerous times he'd hit on her regardless of whether she was single or not. She'd never stopped his advances. Then she'd been flattered and charmed. Now she felt disgusted at him and herself.

"You're sorry? Didn't you emphatically state just a few minutes ago how much you hate everything Hastings and DiLaurentis related?"

"It's more complicated than that."

"Then explain it to me," she demanded.

"A few months after that night, I met Melissa at UPenn. I knew who she was the moment she told me her name. I genuinely liked her at first. And then as I got to know her I saw the Hastings traits in her. The same characteristics that were responsible for tearing apart my family. So I proposed. I knew if I wanted to destroy your family I needed to be family."

"Sounds like the plot to a TV show. Was that what I was then? A way to tear my family apart?"

Wren shot her an affectionate smile. Spencer wanted to throw up. "No. I realized almost immediately that you were nothing like your family. I admit the disruption our relationship caused suited my goals but my feelings for you are real. I meant what I said. I met the wrong sister first."

"You're feelings are real. They just never stopped you from abducting me, or using me to hurt my family, or stop you from making out with two of my best friends or torturing all of us, blackmailing us or trying to kill us." He was so full of crap.

"I never meant for you to be hurt."

"I'm presently bleeding internally, you want to irrevocably harm my family, you're aiding in a plan to kill me and frame me for murder, you tried to kill my boyfriend and you _**never meant for me to be hurt**__._" He was nuts. Completely and utterly gone in the head.

"I never intended to harm the Carpenter but he left me no choice. We couldn't let you remember something that could implicate us and he was making it impossible to take you or for me to make my escape."

"So he deserved to be stabbed?!" How dare he! How dare he make it seem like Toby had been the one in the wrong. Toby had always been uncomfortable at the mere mention of Wren, bothered by the idiotic notion that the older man's higher socio-economic status and Ivy League education made him superior. But this was proof Spencer had never needed that her boyfriend was the better man.

"I'm not proud of everything I've done Spencer. But I lost my father. My time with him was taken from me. First by schizophrenia and then by an aided death. I can't forget that. I don't think you can either. I've watched you.

"That would be the stalking you did right?" Wren didn't seem to hear her acerbic comment. He was leaning in towards her, eyes gleaming.

"You're so different to your family. You're earnest and cordial and respectful. You show emotion. And they act like you're below them instead of treating you like you deserve. Above them."

Spencer turned away focusing on the prison she was currently trapped in than the man who was currently showering her in praise. Wren's opinion of her was anything but flattering.

The medical kit caught her eye.

"You can still change your mind you know. Help Courtney with her plan. Help us. Be with us."

Spencer whipped around to face him, loathing filling her. "Help you hurt the family who raised me. Torture the friends who stood by me. And then what? Run away by myself from the people I love forever."

"You could run away with me," Wren suggested. It wasn't just hope in his voice. There was excitement too. "You deserve better."

Spencer giggled.

Wren watched her bemused as she regained control. "I do deserve better Wren. I deserve someone who isn't a coward. Someone who is honest and strong and fights for what they believe in. Someone who doesn't use people for their own purposes. Someone who believes in them and me. Someone who isn't you."

Wren's smile dropped and his eyes darkened.

"It's why you've been so unlucky in love Wren. Hanna and I both figured out the truth. Alison probably would have eventually and Melissa discovered the true depth of it, didn't she? See that's why when we had to pick between you and Toby or Caleb or whoever, we chose them. Because you're a weak, manipulative, perverted creep and you know it." Wren's face contorted with anger. He was paying full attention to her words not noticing her hand inching across the mattress.

"You have to target emotionally vulnerable young girls because no woman in her right mind would ever be with you. We know there's someone better than you out there. We deserve better than you."

"You bitch!" He lunged at her but Spencer was ready. Her hand wrapped around the handle of the kit and swung it as hard as she could at his head. Wren staggered backwards and she rammed it straight into his face this time.

Wren dropped to his knees. Spencer ran. Out the door, down the first hallway she saw. She needed to put as much distance between herself and everyone else in this basement.

Two flights of stairs and a left turn she was in the old disused children's wing. Angry whispers and sharp footsteps echoed across the not-so empty corridor and Spencer hurriedly ducked into a bare room.

"You idiot. You let her play you. How many times has this been now huh?" Spencer froze as Courtney stopped directly in front of her door.

"I told you my fatal flaw is listening to my heart over my head."

Courtney rolled her eyes. "Oh please you're problem isn't that you don't think with you head. It's that you think with the _**wrong**_ _**one.**_ Now find that little bitch and make sure she falls off the wagon and then falls off the roof. Or it'll be you confessing their sins before they swan dive off this place, got it!"

Spencer gave a relieved sigh as they moved on. Only for it to be followed by a scared cry as a groan sounded behind her.

Noel Kahn and Jenna Marshall were in the room with her.

* * *

><p>"I really don't think you should be doing this." Toby knew Emily was just looking out for him. But he had exactly zero intention of taking her advice.<p>

"Seriously Toby you were stabbed like two days ago you need to heal." He ignored her and pulled on his shirt, disregarding the tug in his side.

"Spencer wouldn't want you to do this." That was a low blow and they both knew it.

"If she was here, after nearly dying, and one of us was missing, she'd already be out of the hospital by now." He didn't care about his own health. He cared about Spencer's. A had already done the unthinkable once this week. He couldn't lose her again. "I need to find her Em. Sitting here having a stroke worrying about her isn't going to help me either. I need to know she's OK."

She shot him a sympathetic smile. Emily was as worried as he was. "You're probably the only person in the world who's as stubborn as Spencer is."

"It's the only way I stand a chance when we argue about our different points of view."

"She'll be OK. She's Spencer. If anyone can beat A it's her." The words were more for her benefit than his. Emily was spooked too but was relying on faith to help her. Spencer put so much effort into being strong and unstoppable. She just buried everything until she couldn't anymore and it nearly destroyed her over and over again. And it was still that image of their invulnerable friend that the girls followed. Because anything else meant facing things they weren't willing too.

He didn't point out that the challenge Spencer posed was what had gotten her kidnapped in the first place.

Instead he walked out the door to meet Caleb, Aria and Hanna who confirmed that the slim hope that Spencer was still somewhere in the building was wasted.

'_You know what I say about hope. It breeds eternal misery.'_

Something in Toby snapped. Before he could stop himself he'd stormed straight over to Holbrook and the officer who'd been posted to watch the hall.

"What the hell happened? You just let someone take her. She was here because she'd been kidnapped and you let them take her again."

"We're investigating the case Officer Cavanaugh. You're still on leave." Toby ignored Holbrook's obvious dismissal.

"Spencer's my girlfriend and she's been abducted twice now even though you're watching her every move. And you wonder why she doesn't trust you. You might as well not do anything."

The officer responsible didn't look happy at the implication. "It wasn't as if we just put a sign up, kid. The doctor had identification and was accompanied by a police officer with a Rosewood police department badge."

"So anyone with a badge can be a cop," Hanna retorted as angry as he was. "Fantastic I'll run down to Toys R Us and join the force."

"They had the proper credentials! I couldn't have known!"

"That's not good enough. She-"

"Alright that's enough." Holbrook eased Toby away. "Look I understand you're all upset and worried about Spencer but the best thing you can do right now is let us do our job. We'll inform you as soon as we know anything." With that warning he motioned the other officer down the hall away from the teens.

Toby barely heard Hanna's colorful description as he stared at the sparse room. Spencer had been here mere hours ago, safe and someone had literally just wheeled her out of the room without anyone seeing.

Had they hurt her further? She wouldn't have gone willingly. Whoever took her had incapacitated her somehow. She was helpless against whoever had her.

"It had to have been CeCe right. The blonde cop. With Wilden's badge."

"Except even Rosewood's dumbest are going to recognize the prime suspect in the murder of one of their own."

Even if CeCe was responsible they had no way of finding her. And Caleb was right even Rosewood PD weren't incompetent enough to let a fugitive walk by them. Especially with someone who they were suspicious of.

They were going in circles and wasting time. Every second mattered for Spencer.

BAAM. Shoving the locker over did absolutely nothing to ease his emotional torment but he needed to do something even if it was just abuse furniture. He couldn't just stand around feeling powerless.

"Hey guys," Emily leaned down to pull free what had been wedged into a crack in the locker. "Spencer hid these." It was the notebook and file pages. Spencer had been able to hide them before she'd been taken.

None of them had her genius IQ but maybe just maybe they'd find something.

He'd already gone through the notebook but nothing jumped out at him.

"Whoever wrote on the back has the worst spelling," Aria noted as she and Hanna went over Dr Palmer's files.

"No kidding, even I know that color isn't spelled with a 'u'. And center is c-e-n-t-e-r not c-e-n-t-r-e."

Toby straightened at Hanna's comment. "Let me see." He scanned the handwritten words. "This is in English."

"Yeah Toby, that's how we're able to read it."

"No I mean actual English. I saw this type of spelling everywhere in London. Whoever wrote this is English." He realized who had taken Spencer immediately. "I'm going to kill that son of a bitch."

"Any ideas where Dr Pervert-with-an-Accent could have taken her?" Caleb queried.

"We don't actually know for sure it's Wren," Aria pointed out. Hanna and Emily looked uncertain. "Lots of people write using Commonwealth English.

Neither Toby nor Caleb bought the potential coincidence for a second. The guy had taken advantage of the girls way too many times. "Name one other person that any of us know?" Unsurprisingly Aria couldn't.

"That still doesn't tell us where Spencer is," Emily pointed out.

Toby felt despair creep flow through him as he stared clueless at the files. The files Dr Palmer had written and someone had made sure to get their hands on. "They're at Radley." So many things kept leading back to Radley. So many times they'd found themselves there. He remembered having a conversation about it with Spencer. It had to be where she was.

Any doubts he had vanished when they got to Radley.

Patients and staff alike were rushing out the door as emergency responders milled around. Lights flashed through the darkness and sirens filled the air.

The five of them stared in dismay at the flames quickly engulfing the building. People fled around them and the thick smoke billowing in the air made their eyes prickle.

Radley was burning.

And Spencer was inside.

Toby ignored the yells from his friends and the shouts from the firefighters to stay back as he dashed up the steps, dodging an orderly and cop that tried to stop him as he made it into the building. The risk he was taking didn't matter. It didn't even register. He was finding Spencer.

He didn't notice their friends follow him in.

* * *

><p><strong>So now all the gang's in one big burning building. I think I give them a harder time than A;)<strong>

**A word of warning to everyone my work schedule is ramping up so my updates mightn't be as frequent. There's only about 3-4 more chapters to go and I'm going to try to post every day but no promises.**

**Also I probably won't see the show again until after the story is posted since I don't want it to impact my story (I hate being off-canon). Please feel free to comment but no spoilers please. Thanks**


	13. Chapter 12

**So here's the next chapter. There's one more after this and an epilogue. To all my readers thanks so much for sticking with me.**

**Special thanks to my guest readers for your kind words especially since I can't write back and thank you. It's greatly appreciated.**

**This is a little rushed but I wanted to get it up. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Hanna raced through the halls. It was going to take like five showers to get the smell of smoke out of her hair but it would be worth it when they saved Spencer from A, shut that bitch down permanently and she could buy clothes again that didn't end up covered in blood and dirt.<p>

She turned a corner and collided with someone else. She stumbled backwards blonde hair and a police uniform dancing in her vision.

The blonde dove after her and Hanna grunted as her back hit the wall. "Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?"

Hanna had no idea what she was talking about but she didn't need anyone to point out this was the fake cop who had kidnapped Spencer and was currently doing a crappy questioning.

The woman threw her into the other wall, ripping her sweater. "That was Ralph Lauren!"

Now Hanna was more pissed than scared. She stomped her heel on the other woman's foot and drove an elbow into her stomach. It was then she recognized Meredith. Aka the crazy psycho home wrecker who'd drugged Aria and locked them in the Montgomery basement.

Meredith jumped for her. No way was Hanna letting that bitch near her. Not after last time. She reached out and grabbed the first thing she could and brought it straight across the whore's head.

Meredith went down and Hanna went after her, snatching the handcuffs at her waist and quickly handcuffing the woman to a radiator.

"Freeze!" Hanna looked up to see two cops bearing down on her.

"She attacked me! She kidnapped my friend. She locked me in a basement!" They didn't believe her and instead restrained her. "She isn't even a real cop!"

* * *

><p>"Who's there?"<p>

Jenna's gaze swept the room. Her dark glasses were gone and all Spencer could see was the frightened girl that she could appear as.

But this time Spencer didn't think it was an act. The older girl's face was tear-streaked and angry red marks on her arms were turning to dark bruises. Those along with the bloody head wound Noel bore spoke about their unwillingness to be there.

"It's Spencer." She grabbed a blanket from an otherwise stripped bed and pressed it against Noel's head. He was awake but barely lucid.

"What's going on?!" Jenna's demand was more pleading than authoritative.

"Alison's even worse half is cleaning house with her band of misfit maniacs. We need to move fast if we want to stay alive." She thought fast. Jenna and Noel probably stood even less chance than she did. The three of them together would never make it to safety.

It took both her and Jenna to help Noel to his feet and Jenna was hampered trying to keep him upright.

But she couldn't just leave the two there even with their shared dislike. They were there for the same reason she was. Courtney was tying up loose ends.

"Jenna listen take a left to the end of the corridor, then take a right. Walk for 20 feet, then take a left. Walk 50 steps until you reach a door. Go through and straight ahead you'll walk right into the nurses station tell them what happened and get help."

"What are you going to do?"

"Distract them." She only hesitated for a moment before slipping the recorder into Noel's pocket. She was giving up her sole evidence but it might be the only chance she had of stopping Courtney and protecting the others. Even if she didn't survive to do it. "This is the thing that will get Alison out of all of our lives for good. Give it to the cops."

Noel looked at her strangely. The way an actual human being might in such circumstances. "Don't die Hastings. A freaking memorial for you would just be catatonic."

Spencer just nodded and slipped out the door. Time to go play distraction.

* * *

><p>Emily skidded to a halt the same time CeCe did as they recognized each other in the hallway. CeCe paused, mentally assessing her options of escape. Options Emily wasn't going to give her. "Give it up CeCe. You're not going anywhere."<p>

CeCe spun on her heel and headed back down the hallway she came, Emily chasing after her. A faint groan was heard and they both looked up as plaster rained down on them.

Emily jumped, dragging the other girl with her as the ceiling caved in narrowly avoiding the two. CeCe groaned in pain. Part of the rubble had caught the blonde's ankle and it was rapidly swelling. She couldn't run.

Emily tugged the debris loose, ignoring the cuts to her hands and arms as she freed CeCe and helped her to her feet. "You're telling the cops everything, CeCe. Or I'll bury you back under that ceiling myself," she threatened.

CeCe just nodded, she was too tired and she knew she was trapped. "I'll talk. I'll tell you and the cops everything. But I want a deal first."

"You don't deserve one," Emily snapped as they started to make their way to the voices shouting at the far end of the corridor.

"I know you think I'm A, Emily. But I'm not. Courtney is. I'm only working with her to protect Alison. All I've ever been doing is trying to protect Alison," CeCe explained. "You'd all have had it much worse if it wasn't for me."

Emily scoffed. "Oh yeah how exactly would it be worse?"

"Well for one thing Spencer would still be face down in that lake." Emily spun to face her as she gave the revelation. But she never got a chance to ask anything further as officers rushed up to them, taking CeCe into custody, separating them and taking Emily to a nearby paramedic.

* * *

><p>"Which way?" Aria gaped at Caleb's question. The fire was spreading. They had all lost each other the minute they stepped inside the building. She and Caleb had met each other at the empty reception by pure luck. "How should I know?"<p>

"You work here!" came his panicked reply as they watched a figurine slowly melt.

A tapping could be heard and they followed the sound only to find Jenna and Noel crawling towards them. "What are you two doing here?"

"Aria?" Jenna blindly groped the air in front of her. "Is that Aria?"

"We're taking an afternoon stroll. What does it fucking look like we're doing Montgomery?!" Noel added weakly.

"What happened?" Caleb asked as he kneeled down, acting as a crutch for Noel. Aria herself took Jenna's hand guiding her.

"Alison is trying to kill us." Jenna sobbed. "I really thought this time she'd actually succeed."

"Hastings told us to come this way. Seemed like it might be worth listening to her for once." Noel slurred his words and he had a nasty cut on his temple. "She gave us something."

"Spencer was with you?" Aria smiled that meant Spencer was OK.

Caleb headed for the door Noel and Jenna had come from. He jumped back from it with a sharp yell. His arm was burnt raw where it had made contact with the wood.

"There's no way we can get through there."

Aria thought quickly. "There's a staff exit over on the east side. We can get out that way." Caleb nodded and moved in the direction she pointed, taking Noel with him as Aria led Jenna. '_Please be OK Spencer.'_

* * *

><p>His side was aching but it barely registered to Toby. He'd been searching for Spencer for the last twenty minutes and he still hadn't found her. Or anyone actually.<p>

Scratch that, _**almost**_ anyone.

Wren Kingston stumbled in front of him, his face bruised and his nose bloody.

Toby grabbed the British doctor and rammed him into the wall. "Where's Spencer?!"

Wren yelped in pain at the sudden movement, cradling his face. "Bloody hell mate."

"Where's Spencer?!"

"I don't know," Wren insisted. "She assaulted me and took off." So Spencer was responsible for the man's injuries. He was so proud of her.

"Where's Alison?" There was no way that blonde menace hadn't caused the chaos surrounding them. Wherever Alison was so was Spencer.

"I don't know."

"Tell me what you do know or I'll kill you where you stand." He meant every word. Toby wasn't a violent person by nature but if Spencer died he'd kill everyone responsible. Vengeance was all he had.

A glimmer of fear flickered across the older man's face. "It wasn't personal mate. Courtney just ordered me to find her. I was trying to help her but she turned me down."

"What does Courtney want?"

"Court was pissed about her escaping all the times before and about the double agent stunt you two pulled with Mona. She wants to teach Spencer a lesson."

"What lesson? What is Courtney planning?" Wren's injuries didn't hinder him like a stab wound would but Toby had a height and weight advantage and he was furious enough to use them.

Wren grunted as Toby jabbed an elbow into his gut. "Courtney's planning to pin everything on Spencer. She planted evidence and she intends on Spencer not being around to refute it."

Fear gripped Toby. "Where?"

"The roof. It wasn't personal. I had no choice. I tried" Wren didn't get a chance to finish his excuses as Toby's fist met his jaw.

He didn't wait to check on the medic. He was already half-way up the stairs. _Hang on Spencer._

* * *

><p>Spencer ran for the stairs, Courtney chasing after her. She needed to get away and up was the only option she currently had. Courtney yelled angrily but Spencer drowned her out.<p>

She reached the top floor and flung herself through the door, finding herself on the roof. "Well that's convenient." Courtney stalked towards her as Spencer backed away, trying to keep as much distance between herself and Courtney and herself and the roof edge as possible.

The blonde lunged at her. Spencer jumped back but Courtney was stronger and shoved her to the ground. Spencer felt the jolt in every part of her body. She tasted metal and realized she'd coughed up blood. She struggled trying to free herself from the blonde's grasp as Courtney fought back just as hard.

Neither girl realized how close they'd come to the edge until they were already on the ledge. Spencer's heart skipped a beat as her foot met empty air. Courtney could send her straight over the edge and kill her in a second. Or she could toss Courtney over and become the cold-blooded killer everyone considered her to be.

"It's over Spencer. Time to say goodbye." She felt herself going over. Nothing to stop her. She tightened her hold around the other girl. Courtney was the only thing stopping her from falling. But her grip was slipping. Her ears were ringing and her vision swam. She coughed up more blood. She didn't have the fight in her anymore. Her grip loosened.

"Spencer?" Spencer felt herself being pulled. Her legs gave out and she sank to the rooftop once more. Courtney stared down at her confusion, horror and suspicion on her face.

"Alison?" Despite looking identical it was impossible not to tell the differences in the personalities now that she knew there were multiple ones.

Alison looked around her in concern. "Spencer where are we? What's happening?"

"You're trying to fake my suicide." Lying wouldn't help her maybe the truth would.

Alison rolled her eyes in anger. "I'm not A Spencer! I'm not the one trying to kill us."

"I know you're not A. But you're a lot more responsible than you realize." She didn't have the energy to stand. To move. She was fighting to stay conscious as it was and every breathe was like a thousand tiny needles in her chest.

Alison glared at her not believing a word. "You're lying. You drugged me. You want to be me Spencer. You always have. You think convincing Emily and the others to take your side will work. You convinced them that I'm A. Just because they're stupid enough to believe it doesn't mean it'll last forever. I'm better than you and we both know it. It's why you want me gone."

Spencer just leaned back tiredly against the wall. "A lot of people want you gone Ali. A's just planning on killing the rest of us to make sure you stay gone this time."

"What the hell is that meant to mean?"

Spencer hauled herself up with the ledge. She needed a hospital, preferably one with decent security. Alison's return had stopped Courtney's attempt to push her off the roof but that didn't mean anything if she internally bleed out. Or the building burnt down.

"We need to go."

"Go where?!" The change was instantaneous. It was Alison who asked the question but Courtney was in control as soon as the words left their mouth. "Go where Spence? The only place you're going is **down**!"

Spencer staggered away as the other girl charged at her but she fell. Courtney tripped over her and slid over the ledge with a scream.

Spencer peered over the side. Courtney was dangling off the roof with one arm gripping the edge for dear life. Spencer caught her arm. She tried to pull the other girl up but she didn't have the strength. Courtney's hand slipped and she fell to the lower roof before bouncing off and hurtling straight to the ground below.

She didn't move again.

Spencer collapsed against the ledge. The metallic taste was stronger now and mixed with salt. She felt dizzy, her head was spinning and every part of her ached. The building was on fire. No one knew where she was and she didn't have the ability to escape. She thought she heard something as her vision went dark but she blacked out before she could call for help.

* * *

><p><strong>Let me know what you think, just no spoilers (for the show I don't see it until the weekend).<strong>


	14. Chapter 13

**Hey everyone so this is the last chapter. There will be a short Spoby epilogue up in a couple of days and that's it. I'm done. This is my first multi-chapter fic and I couldn't have done it without all of your encouragement. Between reviews, follows, favorites and just taking the time to read (3400+ views). Thank you so much. This chapter is dedicated to all of you.**

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><p>Spencer folded the clothes neatly into the bag, her movements sure but careful. She couldn't get out of there fast enough and the last thing she wanted was to give anyone an excuse to keep her in longer.<p>

"You planning a jailbreak?"

She grinned as she spun around. Toby stood in the doorway, still in uniform. He must have come straight from the station. "I'm digging a tunnel, crawling down the air vent and sneaking a ride in the laundry truck."

He smirked as he came towards her. "You know that as a law enforcement officer I'm obliged to stop you."

"I'm willing to offer an incentive for you to help me."

"You really think you can buy your way out of this with money?" His hands slid over her hips and she immediately felt steadier. She had seen him just the day before but the feeling of him holding her never got old.

"I was thinking of persuading you by other means," she purred, playfully stealing his cap before meeting his lips in a searing kiss. They only separated when air became in short supply.

"That's definitely the way to bribe a guy, Spence." He looked down at her with those hypnotizing blue eyes. "Your parents are signing the paperwork. Ready to get out of here?"

She nodded gleefully turning back to gather up the last of her things. "How was your first day back? You were careful right?" The doctors had only just cleared him and he was already back at work. She knew he needed the money and the distraction but it worried her that he might over do it.

"I'm desk-bound for the next three weeks Spencer. The doctors said I was completely fine. You're the one who's supposed to go home on bed rest."

She clucked her tongue in annoyance. She'd done nothing but rest in this freaking hospital for the last two weeks and it was driving her crazy. Their friends had all been discharged one-by-one and she was the last one left.

"Hey," Toby squeezed her lightly, "A's gone Spencer, and it's finally over. You have your life back. You just need to take it easy so that you can actually live it. Instead of landing yourself back in here again because you overdid it."

She busied herself with the buttons on his shirt. As much as she was worried about him getting hurt again, he felt the same about her. After all the only reason she had made it to the hospital was because of Toby. He'd found her on the roof after she'd passed out. The Epi-Pen she'd taken the only thing keeping her alive after the additional beating and the exertion and shock.

She blocked out the memories and returned to her packing. "Well if I plan on using that life to go to college and earning a living I still need to actually graduate." God knew what her grades were like at this point. She'd be lucky if she could manage straight B's and who got anywhere with that?

Toby tugged the textbook from her hand. "School's important. But there was another thing I was thinking of." Before she could ask what he meant his lips brushed hers. She smiled pulling him closer, joining their lips again and again.

"Huhhmm," a cough and a knock on the door broke them apart. Jason stood in the entryway, studiously examining the wall tiles to his right.

Toby telepathically read her silent request, "I'll go find your parents, and get you discharged before you start getting impatient and just leave." Spencer smiles in gratitude as he slides by her and then by Jason leaving her alone with her brother.

"How are you?" She hasn't seen him since he left the night he'd warned her about their father.

"I should be asking you that." Jason's eyes have bags under them, his hair is unkempt and his clothes are rumpled. He hasn't slept in a while. His family has been torn apart once more.

Jason sighed and lowered himself onto the bed. "I knew someone wanted me dead. Now I know why."

"Did you know?"

"About Courtney?" Jason shook his head. "I heard my parents fighting about it one night. But I was pretty messed up back then and using a lot. I was high for most of the time. It never really registered. Guess that's another thing I'll never be able to fix."

"It's another thing we have in common." Something to share regret over.

"You're possibly the least guilty person of all of our relatives Spencer." Least guilty. That's accurate. She's definitely not blameless. "Don't let the past ruin your future." Spencer silently repeats it back to him. Their families have always had a lot in common. A strong self-destructive streak being a large part.

"I'm leaving town." Spencer thinks she should be more surprised at his announcement and yet it isn't really a surprise at all. "I'm not planning on coming back."

He gives her a smile that's anything but. "I just wanted to see how you were before I left."

He's half-way to the door when she calls out to him. "I know you don't want to be a Hastings. And I don't blame you. Not even the Hastings want to be Hastings anymore. But do me a favor? Check in every once in a while. I've lost enough people. We both have."

Jason nods. "I'll try. And I'll be careful. Take care of yourself Spencer. Or at least let Toby take care of you, he's a good guy."

She could give a dissertation on why she doesn't need anyone to take care of her. But that's never been an issue for either of them. Instead she settles for a simple agreement. "He is."

He leaves then only to be replaced almost instantly by Toby and her parents. They all pretend not to notice the gaping chasm of distance between the three Hastings. Her mom helps her gather up her belongings, while her dad explains that Toby's taking her home and they'll meet her there later.

"We're meeting the judge with the other girls' parents."

Spencer's confused. "Won't we need to be there for that?"

Her mom shakes her head. "You girls have been through enough. We'll take care of it now OK." Her mother's the determined, fierce lawyer Spencer recognizes more than the maternal, concerned woman she's seen glimpses of and that's actually reassuring. If anyone can conquer the legal battle they still have to fight it's her unrelenting, unwilling, indomitable parents.

It's rather fitting. That success is responsible for recent demons after all.

The ride home is quiet. Spencer's lost in her thoughts and Toby understandingly lets her think.

She walks into her home for the first time in almost three weeks to be greeted by her friends hosting an impromptu gathering.

"We've got pizza, plates, soda, chips, fries, chocolate, napkins, forks, knifes," Aria surveyed the coffee table. "Oh glasses!" She headed for the cabinet only to stop in front of the open door. "You're family has too many tall people in it Spence. They discriminate against short people."

Spencer smirked it was good to just hang out with her friends again. "I'll get the glasses Aria."

"I'll get them," Emily cut in, motioning to sit down.

Spencer rolled her eyes as she let Toby lead her to the armchair at one end of the room and pull her onto his lap. "I'm not an invalid you guys."

"Spence, you were unconscious for like three days and you just got out," Aria commented as she handed out the pizza. "Take it easy for a while."

"Yeah and if you keep fighting we'll have Toby hold you down," Hanna chimed in.

"The doctors said to rest, right?" Caleb grinned amused by the small argument.

"Doctors aren't always right you know."

"Is that why you insisted _**I**_ see so many of them before you accepted I could be cleared." Amusement danced in Toby's eyes and tone.

Stab wounds were a big deal. And he'd discharged himself to take off after her and gotten into a fight. He'd only just gotten his cast off before that. It wasn't like she didn't have reason to be worried. "Do you know how many medical malpractice suits are filed every year due to incompetence or negligence?"

"I'm sure you could tell me."

"And they recommend getting a second opinion."

"A second opinion sure. But a third and fourth and fifth opinion?" Toby teased. "Especially when you see absolutely no need to listen to one for your own health?"

Spencer crossed her arms firmly. She was _**fine**_. If she took a time-out every time she experienced physical injury or emotional trauma she'd never get anything done. She'd be holed up in her room for the rest of her life.

"You know if I didn't know better I'd say you were just mad about being the last one to get discharged."

"Oh my god that's totally it!" Aria gasped as Emily, Hanna and Caleb laughed.

Spencer elbowed her boyfriend but allowed him to draw her against him. As she said the doctors were wrong sometimes. She should have been discharged ages ago. Aria had been the first two days after the fire. Hanna and Emily a day later after their bruises had eased.

Which was ridiculous because her friends had suffered much worse smoke inhalation than her. She'd been on the roof when the fire had really gotten out of hand, in fresh air while her friends had breathed in soot and ash. And the emergency surgery to stop the internal bleeding hadn't been as big a deal as everyone kept saying. Her friends weren't even fully recovered themselves. Caleb's arm was covered in gauze, not yet healed from the burn he'd sustained. Emily was limping slightly due to the gash she had received to her leg and Hanna's shoulder was still stiff from the fight she'd had with Meredith and then the handcuffs she'd worn until she'd been released. So why they weren't still in the hospital or on bed rest made no sense.

"I can't believe I missed it all," Paige complained. Emily squeezed her girlfriend's hand. "You wouldn't have been able to stop any of it. And you only would have been in danger with us too."

"But I could have been there for you. What happens to Alison now?"

The mood turned somber and pensive at Paige's question. Even after a fortnight they were still processing all of it.

"Jenna and Noel handed in the tape Spencer got. It proves Alison killed Bethany" Toby commented.

Caleb shook his head. "I can't believe Noel Khan and Jenna Marshall actually helped us out. I mean I know Alison was blackmailing them, and wanted them dead to keep them quiet so it was served their own agenda to take her down but still. They're the ones to exonerate Spencer and implicate Alison.

"More like letting Courtney implicate Alison," Spencer muttered but it was still heard by the room.

"You don't believe her Spence?"

Spencer shrugged. "I think either Alison or Courtney killed Bethany. I'm just not sure which one of them it was. Courtney wasn't lying about some of the other stuff." She had been telling the truth about Alison's involvement in both 'The Jenna Thing' and Toby's mom's death. Spencer was sure of it. "But proving which one of them actually did is going to be next to impossible. It's a classic case of 'She said, she said'. My mom thinks her lawyers stand a really good shot at an insanity plea."

Paige scoffed and rolled her eyes. "So once again Alison gets away with something by making up one hell of a story."

Spencer frowned pensively. "She'll still be locked away for a long time just in an institution instead of jail. And it isn't a story this time. I saw it. The D.I.D., Courtney and Alison thing is real. Alison saved my life." She can feel the eyes of the entire room on her with that acknowledgement. "On the rooftop at Radley, Courtney was trying to push me off. She was doing a pretty good job too. I was going over and then suddenly Alison was in control and she pulled me back onto the roof. It was only for a minute but it was Alison. If she hadn't shown up right then, I'd be dead now. It bought me time to get some leverage when Courtney came back to try again."

"She saved you." Emily's eyes are wide and Spencer's sure she can see something resembling that despicable hope. "She did care about us."

"In her own twisted way. That's part of the reason why Courtney came after us, because we tied Alison to Rosewood, to her life."

"What's the other part?" Aria wondered in confusion.

"I knew too much. I saw Bethany's murder I was just too out of it to remember but if I did…"

"You'd be able to put Alison on trial for it," Caleb supplied. "So she made sure that you were on the hook first. That way no one believes you."

She nodded. "Alison or Courtney posing as Alison, put the idea into Holbrook's head. Me being responsible for Bethany and Mona and Ian and A and every other body and incident in Rosewood put her in the free and clear. So she made sure to make me look as guilty as possible. Knew exactly what seeds to plant."

"And who's head to grow them in," Aria added sourly. They all know exactly which older man she's referring to.

"If the plan was to frame you then why hold you for so long in the first place?" Paige asked.

"The N.A.T. tapes." Those sickening videos had gotten them into hot water so many times. She wished she could shred every single copy. "After our investigation at Radley they realized that Mona had Bethany's files. Including references to Alison and Courtney. They took all of Mona's info on us but they also found copies not only of surveillance on us but copies of the N.A.T. videos as well. Ones Alison hadn't gotten. And these videos didn't just have the stuff on us, it had other stuff on them too."

"Like Cape May and Wren and Ali on tape," Caleb deducted.

"Along with the entire N.A.T. club who all have some questionable records by now," Spencer supplied. "They wanted to get them back before I 'confessed'. One of those tapes included Courtney and Alison ranting about each other and Bethany. If we put enough of the pieces together with those tapes and Bethany's files, Alison would have been facing some serious questions."

"So she took out anyone that might know, like Mona." Hanna's voice wavered with her lingering grief.

"And Ian and Garrett and tried to kill Jason and Jenna and set up me and Toby and Melissa. You guys were passed out from those sedatives Ali gave us. But the rest of us were all there that night and could have seen anything. Alison had the videos to use against Ian, Jenna, Garret and Jason until it wasn't enough and she needed to find a more permanent solution."

"And you and Toby could have seen enough to figure it out. Especially with us investigating Radley and the connection to that night," Emily realized. "That's why A kept targeting you two the way they did."

"CeCe Drake made a full statement," Toby said. "She was one of the few people who knew about Alison's diagnosis. She grasped what was happening pretty fast. She swears she signed on to protect Alison and try and keep the rest in line. Any lethal plans against Alison she shifted off against someone else."

"Yeah us!" Aria snapped.

"I think she was trying to help Alison. Whether helping you guys or throwing you under a bus for Ali was better for her agenda was give or take." He carefully considers his next comment. "She was the one to tip me off to Spencer at the marina."

"How did Alison not know about any of this? About Courtney, about doing this to us."

"Her parents wanted her to forget." Spencer gazed at her soda as she sorted out everything she'd learned in the last few weeks. "And Alison didn't want to believe it so she didn't. In news that will shock no one it turns out that a questionable mental history runs in the maternal side of Ali's family." She paused before gathering the courage to continue. "And usually people with D.I.D. or display some of the symptoms Alison does come from homes of abuse." She doesn't need to look up to see Aria's wide eyes or Hanna's frown or Emily's look of horror. "The DiLaurentis' probably have even more skeletons than we know of."

"Poor Alison," Emily murmured.

They all let that truth hang in the air for a moment.

"Mrs D was Mommy Dearest," Aria decided, "but how did Meredith get involved besides meeting the crazy bitch requirement?"

"Alison knew about the affair with your dad, so Courtney knew. Meredith was treated at Radley so Wren was able to get her file. She was obsessed with your dad and saw us in the way." Spencer shrugged. "It didn't take a lot of persuasion."

"And Wren was playing us this whole time." Spencer felt Hanna's anger. "He helped us out and covered for us to get our trust. Acted like our friend and then screwed us first chance he got. Just like he did to Mona."

Spencer nodded in confirmation, her drink becoming very interesting. "He wanted payback for his dad and for Alison lying to him. He was easy for Courtney to recruit. The more we reminded him of the wrongs against him the more determined he got. Melissa realized what he was really after. That's why she got back with him and encouraged him to move back to London. It was a way to keep an eye on him and get Wren away from us." She hesitates and then corrects herself. "To get him away from me."

"And that is why you girls shouldn't trust strange slimy older men with funny accents who seem way too willing to help for no reason," Caleb reprimanded. "They usually have hidden motives."

"You forgot perverted, adulterous creep," Toby added.

"Yes thank you," Caleb gestured in gratitude with his drink. "That too, all warning signs."

Spencer ignored them. She still felt ashamed and guilty. She'd been the first to fall for Wren's ploy. She was the reason he got as close to them as he did. And the memory of him proclaiming to have feelings for her, urging her to run away with him, to help destroy the people she loved, it made her feel dirty.

Toby senses her train of thought and hugs her tightly to him, lowering his voice so that only she can hear. "You couldn't have known the extent of what he was really up to Spencer. And he's going to be under supervision for a very long time. He can't come near you again. I won't let him."

He looks her right in the eye when he says it. She believes him.

"What happens to you guys?" Paige's question vocalizes what their parents are currently trying to do.

"Spencer's off the hook for murder." The affection and relief is dripping from her boyfriend. But Spencer's Spencer and she can't stop herself from focusing on the negative instead of the positive. "We'll likely face community service for 'The Jenna Thing' and for not coming forward about Shana's death."

They glance at Aria at that, checking how she deals with the reference to the girl. "I'm OK, guys. Saving Jenna's life helped, you know, like at least I could save someone. And it's a positive decision to focus on when I'm cataloging all the ways my judgement was defective."

Ezra was publishing his book on Rosewood. Aria hadn't taken the revelation well.

"Alison put the idea in his head Aria. He only suspected I was guilty of everything because of that." Spencer had a lot more she could say but it would just send Aria spiraling more. There wasn't any point.

"Exactly Spence he thought you were guilty because he let Alison convince him even though he knew we suspected her. He chose to listen to Ali instead of trusting my judgement of a friend. After everything we've been through. I don't think I can forgive that. I'm just destined to spend the rest of my life alone."

"I don't think you should write off the next sixty years quite yet Aria."

"So what do we do now?" Hanna recalled the original question.

Emily raises an eyebrow in uncertainty. "Try to move on with our lives I guess. However we can."


	15. Epilogue

**OK**** here it is the epilogue. My first multi-part fic is complete. They grow so fast. - Cries-.**

**This is pretty much Spoby angst with a touch of fluffy ending because well I put them through alot. I hope you all enjoy this as much as you have the rest of the story.**

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><p>Toby found Spencer sitting on her bed, staring wistfully out her window at the empty DiLaurentis house, the 'For Sale' sign displayed prominently on the front lawn. A letter dangled loosely from her fingers.<p>

He greeted her with a kiss. "Hey what have you got there?"

Spencer gives a smile that isn't a real smile. "It's an acceptance letter, from UPenn. CeCe confessed to never actually giving my application to her 'friend Steven from Admissions.' It was all one of A's tricks. So naturally once my parents found out they insisted on 'talking' to the Dean of the school about the special circumstances of my application. Lucky me."

He wouldn't have been this proud or excited if it had been him. "Spencer that's great."

"Yeah it can go with the letters I got from Columbia, Princeton, Stanford and Yale." The apathy and disinterest radiating from her couldn't be more obvious if they hit him over the head. Toby also didn't miss the fact that this was the first time he was hearing about these letters.

"Why aren't you more excited about this?"

Spencer shrugged. "I guess it hasn't really sunk in yet. Between my parents splitting up and everything A and Mona-related and Alison coming back and the girls' and the rehab, institutionalization and murder charges on my record and Melissa actually being responsible," her voices drops, "college became a pipe dream. It didn't help that it seemed like none of them had any interest in me until now."

He reaches out and rubs her knee. "Any of those schools would be lucky to have you Spencer. Just because they were slow to realize it doesn't make it any less true."

"I haven't decided what to do yet. I'm not sure which one I want to go to or if I even want to go to any of them at all."

Concern creeps through him as he contemplates her meaning. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I mightn't be going," she snaps, hurt and defensive though he knows it's not aimed at him. "Maybe I don't want to go to college. Maybe I'm not cut out for it."

It's the most absurd thing he's ever heard. Spencer's perfect for college. The ideal student. In all the time he's known her, even before he knew her, he knows Spencer's always desired attending a top university, one where she can devour every lesson she can. One where she can truly grow and thrive away from the constraints and suffocation of Rosewood. It's her dream. Anything else is preposterous and they both know it.

"Spence you've been memorizing schedules and prerequisites and evaluating professors and departments since you could read. Why wouldn't you go to college?"

She pushes herself of the bed in anger. "Why are you pushing this? You have no interest in college and you're fine. Why is it going to miraculously fix _**my**_ life? Because it's not Toby. The judicial investigation into everything that's happened ruled in our favor and let us off on extenuating circumstances but it doesn't wipe out the past or repair the damage of a nuclear bomb. I don't get a magic wand waved and a happy ending!"

He's astonished. "Where is this coming from?"

She wilts and he hates that she's trying to hide that she's fighting back tears. It's the world she's lashing out at. "A might be gone but that doesn't make things OK. I might be caught up and back to being Spencer Hastings the most involved girl in school and my record may be sealed but everywhere I go I hear the whispers from the other students, from the teachers, the waiter in the Grille. I'm never going to stop being that girl that they think I am. Not with Fitz's book coming out and implying it all over again. Crazy and jealous and homicidal. The one who let down the family name and should be locked up somewhere. I might have been proven innocent but to most of them I'm still guilty."

She relents then and allows herself to be coaxed back onto the bed and into a hug. Her voice is muffled by his chest but he can still understand the words.

"Aria's heart-broken, Hanna's still grieving for Mona and Emily's caught right back up on Alison's Whirly Girlie ride because she doesn't know what was real and what wasn't. Jason's god knows where and I'm not sure if he's OK or if I'll see him again. My parents might have torn up their divorce papers but they still aren't together 'together'. Melissa barely comes home. We're even less of a family than we were before and I don't think we'll ever really be one again. I'll never be able to trust any of them. My parents want to sell the house and I get it. I think they might even be right, but it's our home. It's where I grew up."

She swallows down a broken sob. "I'm just so tired and I don't have the energy to start new by myself."

He knows what it's like, he's been where she is. Seeing Spencer so defeated, so damaged is so much worse than going through it himself. "You don't have to do it alone. I'd be there to support you."

Her face shines brightly for moment, before she falls back to the shadows that haunt her. "I can't ask you to do that Toby. I know you want to be a cop. You can't give up your career, what you love doing, for me. Not again."

It's true he is serious about being a cop. He loved carpentry and it's still a joy he plans to take part in whenever possible. But he wants to be able to help. People should be able to trust the people who protect them. They should be able to believe in justice and fairness. No one should have gone through what they have. Someone should have stood up for them, for Mona, for Alison, for his mom. Someone should have stopped the monsters sooner.

Protecting Spencer, loving her, being loved by her it's given him his life back. It's given him friends and a future. And it's brought purpose and joy and support. He wants to be able to make a difference for people who need help the way the people who cared about him did. The last few weeks have cemented it.

Spencer knows this. He's told her.

"I love you. And you're not asking. I'd follow you anywhere Spencer. To a different city, a different continent. Into a burning building, a freezing lake, a stake-out, Mars, a coffee farm, a Game of Thrones convention..."

Spencer laughed, "OK I get it. You'd do a lot for me. Are you sure?"

"They need cops and carpenters everywhere right?" He placed a kiss on her knuckles and received a smile in return. "Promise me that you'll go to college and you'll go where _**you **_want to go and you'll study what _**you**_ want to study. Not what your parents want you to do or what the girls want, or what I want. It's _**your **_decision. It's what will make you happy. You deserve this Spencer. Don't ever think otherwise."

"I promise." He thinks he's finally gotten her to see the truth about herself but he's happy to remind her every day if needs be.

Her small hands trace the contours of his face before she captures his mouth in a kiss. Their lips brush over and over as their kisses rapidly grow more heated and passionate. He pulls her onto his lap and she swings her long legs over either side to straddle him. His shirt comes off next and they're both fully aware of what's coming.

But as much he wants it he can't help but worry. "You're still supposed to be on bed rest. I don't want to hurt you."

"The doctor gave me a clean bill of health this morning. He even recommended regular physical exercise." He can feel her smirking against his jaw as she says it.

She smells like Spencer, warm and sweet and deliciously captivating. Her hands explore his torso and it is her turn to pull away when her fingers brush his tattoo. She tenderly studies the dark words and the pale scar that now slices between skin and ink. "A token of all the suffering you've endured."

"No. A reminder of everything important to who I am." The tattoo is a celebration of his freedom from Jenna and a reminder never to fall victim like that again, never to be weak or give up hope. The scar is a symbol for the girl he would willingly give his life to save and who valiantly fought to save his, once with just a needle and thread.

Spencer understands the deeper meaning even without a more descriptive explanation. "I love you Toby. No matter what I do or say or what the circumstances are, I'll always love you, more than I'll ever love anything else in this world."

"I love you too Spencer. You mean everything to me."

They let themselves convey that sentiment then. Falling back on the sheets in a pleasant tangle of love and limbs, both knowing the most honest and true thing they'll ever know.

Mind, body, heart and soul belonged to the other.

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><p><strong>Many thanks for reading<strong>


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